Hokioi : Giant of the Sky

With a three meter wingspan and talons to rival those of a tiger, hokioi dives on the giant moa, knocking it to the ground and crushing its skull with a powerful grip.

A family group of Polynesian people settle in an area rich in moa and other large ground living birds. However this is also the home of a pair of giant eagles - the hokioi. Peering down from the clouds, the hokioi observes strange creatures taking precious food stocks they need to maintain their large bodies and to feed their growing chick. But are these soft-bodied, featherless creatures also food for a hokioi?

Hema, a boy of only five winters, has the first frightening encounter. He becomes the devoted pupil of Te Reko, the stern tohunga priest, and longs to play the koauau. Gardens are planted, food gathered and stories told, but always with an eye to the sky, fear in the heart and a spear close to hand, as the female hokioi stalks the hapu. Wanui is a healer and the daughter of a tohunga priest. Blaming herself for the suffering the bird has caused her people, she determines to rid the skies of the terrifying bird. Alone she enters its mountainous domain...