We follow a trail through koa trees. Nuʻuanu Valley narrows and the dark mountains close in. The enemy hides in a forest of kou, kukui, and giant tree ferns. The cliffs are a row of green spears. Great ropes of red kumu waina (jade vine) spill down the cliffs.
Kalanikūpule’s army waits beyond a grove of ʻōhiʻa, on the final hill. They have formed the longest battle crescent I have ever seen, one starting at a ridge to the east and stretching west across the width of the mountain. Cannons glimmer in their formation. Their warriors wave muskets. They own the high ground.
Keʻeaumoku tells me they are six mano (24,000). Young studies them through a spyglass. He says they are over two miles long but that their cannons are not mounted to sleds. Davis tells me we have more cannons and muskets. I wonder if Oʻahu’s army is green from not waging war. High ground is an advantage only when your men are willing to die.
Their war trumpet blows a fearful sound. They shout and whirl their slings. Their stones crash into the ʻōhiʻa trees behind us.
I order the cannons forward. Young and Davis aim the brass mouths and load. “Kūkulu ʻana!” I tell Keʻeaumoku. Single line formation. I leave our flanks unprotected because the open field beyond the trees gives us time to counter attackers breaking free of their crescent and charging downhill. They fire one cannon and then two more, their loads ripping into the branches and trunks of ʻōhiʻa. The blasts do no damage.
I send the aliʻi wāhine east, with orders to fire only when the enemy closes within 100 feet. We march and move quickly up the hill, with the cannons sledded up behind us. We form a small crescent on the edge of a sandalwood grove.
Oʻahu’s warriors watch from their front line while my Haoles position our cannons on a rise. Smaller cannons flank big-mouthed Lōpaka. I order Young and Davis to fire. Lōpaka’s boom is followed by blasts from my smaller cannons. They reload and fire again.
Oʻahu answers with musket fire. Two of my warriors fall. Two lau (800) of enemy warriors break free of their crescent and swarm down the hill. The aliʻi wāhine fire from the east. Their leaders fall. Swarming, Oʻahu’s warriors leap over the bodies of the fallen and keep coming. The first to reach us die on the tips of our spears. A rival chief fires his pistol point blank and shoots one of my warriors through the head with a lead ball. Blood splatters my battle cape. I swing ʻOlopū and take off the chief’s head.
Keʻeaumoku rips through the Oʻahu forces, slaughtering with daggers in either hand. An enemy clubs Kekūhaupiʻo. An aliʻi wahine kills his assailant with musket fire. My warriors are thirsty for blood – they slaughter men who are not their equals in battle.
The hill fills with corpses. The edges of the enemy crescent fold in and its warriors stumble into one another like confused fish. Most retreat north, disappearing into the trees fronting the notched cliff. They regroup and join Kalanikūpule’s bodyguard army of four lau (1,600).
We outnumber them. I see a cannon’s mouth aiming down from its cliff notch. The enemy’s wāhine wail beneath the cliff. Their cannon fires – four of my warriors fall. A second blast kills more. I order my men to charge forward with their pololū spears. A third volley flies over our heads. Our wall of spears slams into the bodyguard army. Keʻeaumoku blocks the west with a second wall of spears. We push the enemy toward the pali (cliff).
The bodyguards flail at us with short spears and clubs. Our two walls meet and catch the enemy, their bodies pressing together like a school of netted fish. Many drop their weapons. Some cower behind their wahine. We keep pushing. Ke’eaumoku thrusts his pololū hard – an elder chief slips off the pali and screams going down.
More pushing and thrusting send two lau (800) to their deaths. Women cling to their men – some go over the edge with them. All who challenged us die.
When the last falls to his death, I stand at the pali’s edge and look over. The wind is strong. It carries the smell of both the sweet fern and blood. Where is the king of Oʻahu? My men search but he is nowhere to be found. I bury Kaʻiana.
Kalanikūpule has escaped but I will hunt him down. He has no islands left where he can flee, no father to protect him. When I find my half-brother, I will sacrifice him to Kū. My offering will satisfy the god of war.
