Mahuika

Fire had gone out, and no one wanted to enter the underworld to face Mahuika, the formidable fire goddess. Maui volunteered and received permission from his parents to make the journey. Underground, he met Mahuika and asked for fire. She gave him one of her fingernails as a spark. The nails were not ordinary objects: they were her five children, whom she had been guarding. Maui was not satisfied with a single spark. He tricked Mahuika into giving him all ten of her fingernails and then nine of her toenails. He kept asking for more until only one fingernail remained. He then demanded the last fingernail.

When Maui demanded the last nail, Mahuika became angry. She pulled it out and threw it to the ground. The whole country caught fire, and Maui barely escaped by changing himself into a soaring eagle and flying away. He called on the gods while the country remained engulfed in flames. The gods sent a flood of water that extinguished them. Seeing the possible total loss of fire, Mahuika sent the remaining sparks into nearby trees. From that day forward, humans made fire by rubbing two sticks together.