Book Seven: Chapter 115

“What was it?” Mike asked. The scene shifted, and he was looking at yet another woman carrying the staff. This time, she stood on a ridge looking down at the ocean as Francois and his army tried to climb up the mountain. At her side, Pelé stood with a grim look on her face.

As if in fast forward, the scene changed, revealing how Francois and his army drew ever closer to the top of the mountain. The Kahu used her staff to summon torrential rains and create mudslides, but the dead persisted. Eventually, the scene transformed so that Mike now saw the Kahu standing at the mouth of the cave, staring out into the Big Bog as torchlights moved toward her.

“It was all a part of the Great Game,” said Namakaokahai. “And so a drastic choice was made.” The Kahu and her family gathered at the mouth of the cave, grim determination on their faces as they fled out into the bog and up the steep mountain paths toward the top of the volcano. Once atop the ridge, the Kahu gazed down with tea