Honi stooped through the door and timidly walked outside. The apprentice was lighting the fire and he nervously approached, convinced his time had come and he was about to be turned into a lizard.

"Come here, boy." Missy ordered, reverting back to Te Reo, the language of her people.

Honi hated being called a boy, he wasn't a boy he was a man, a warrior. Perhaps only a young warrior, but a warrior nonetheless.

He shuffled over. Afraid to look the tohunga in her eyes, he ...