Chapter 4: The Gift of Fire

Nat Smurf shyly walked up to the ailing Peewit carrying a small bowl of soup. "Hi Peewit," he said. "I thought I'd give you something. Greedy made it especially for you."

Peewit looked quizzically at the gift. It was in a bowl that to the larger human was the size of a thimble. Peewit almost politely declined, but he looked at the little Smurfling's face. He and Greedy had worked so hard on it. The jester took a sip as the soup barely touched his mouth. "Thanks Nat," he said.

"Hey, did I ever tell you the story of how I became a Smurfling again?" asked Nat.

"No, you never have." Peewit sluggishly responded.

So, Nat explained how he, Slouchy and Snappy went into Father Time's clock and became younger and then explained how they made Sassette.

"So, Gargamel has a magic spell that can create female Smurfs," Peewit observed dryly. Then he began to cough violently. After awhile his coughing subsided and he fell over shaken and pale.

"I'm sorry," Nat said softly.

"It's okay, it happens," the jester said.

From her house, Smurfette sadly watched the ailing human. She looked up towards the sunrise. "Please, please come back soon," she whispered as a single tear ran down her left cheek.


In the cave, Hefty wiped the sweat that was forming on his forehead as the group went further and further inside. "Is it getting hotter in here or is it just me?"

Brainy took off his hat to wipe the steam that had formed on his glasses. He shook his head. "No Hefty, the temperature has reached an accelerated rate far beyond the standard degrees of normal temperature since we have descended into this cave."

"Huh?" replied Hefty.

Brainy rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's getting hotter Hefty."

Sassette hovered too closely on a ledge to get a better look at the cave. As she leaned over, she lost her footing. With a scream she almost fell over the side. Johan leaned over and gently picked the female Smurfling up. "Thank you, Johan," Sassette said, deeply sighing as she looked up at him.

"You're welcome Sassette," Johan said as he put her next to Papa Smurf.

Papa Smurf couldn't miss the gazing look Sassette gave the human squire. He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Memo to Smurf, watch out they start young," he chuckled.

As the group walked further into the cave, they came upon a river of lava. The stench of sulfur and incense was overpowering, so much so, that it made their eyes burn and overpowered their sense of smell.

"Chattering chipmunks, would you just look at this place?" Sassette exclaimed.

"This must be the home of the second Elemental," Papa observed.

"This is what I always imagined Purgatory would look like," Johan said. How fitting, he thought.

"Thank you very much squire!" a sardonic voice said. "Do I come to your home and say it reminds me of a sweltering inferno? Do I visit you and say 'Nice place you got here. It would just be a lot nicer without the biting demons and tormenting death?"

The Smurfs and human looked ahead of them on a magma rock as three little flames burst on it and danced around the rock. They drew back in surprise as the flames got larger and larger until they formed an image. The flames fell as the image formed into a small orange reptilian creature. He spread his wings out revealing his small form. He stared at them through ember eyes that were between three large horns on the top of his head. He spoke with a sardonic swagger to his voice.

"I am the Salamander and welcome to the Pit of Illusion!"

The Salamander floated over to the small group coming so close to them that they couldn't concentrate as they spoke. They asked him questions that he seemed to know the answer to before asked.

Papa asked, "Are you-?" "Yes."

Brainy asked, "Can you-?" "Yes."

Sassette asked, "Is there-?" "Oh, yes!"

Hefty was getting irritated, "Will you-?" "No."

Johan asked, "Will there-?" "Wait what was the question again?" "Will there-?" "Yes."

"How did you-?" the squire asked interested.

"Intuition, all of us Elementals have it," the Salamander answered smugly.

"Now, I will help you cure your little friend, but first you have to go through my pit," he said. "You will walk through individually or as a group, it doesn't matter, you will all see something different even if you somehow bump into each other. Through that pit you will see terrible things. Your worst fear but it isn't real, hence the title, Illusion. You may want to fight it but don't bother, you would lose anyway."

Johan and the Smurfs glared at him as he continued. "Now, remember if you run from it, it's perfectly okay, but you will not be allowed back in. You may go in now."

The five companions exchanged glances and walked ahead as the pit swirled around in a fiery cave. Blinking back the heat they walked in.

Johan staggered into the circular fiery dome. His mouth felt dry and his throat felt parched. The more he walked the more he staggered. Part of him wanted to stop and turn back, but the other part of him remembered that he couldn't return. I have to help Peewit, he thought. He looked ahead and saw a green field. That must be the next gate, he thought as he walked towards it. He stumbled into a meadow just as a group of peasants were running from a small legion of knights. The knights surrounded the peasants.

Ignoring the Salamander's warnings that the illusions were not real, Johan kept his hand on the hilt of his sword and approached the scuffle. Mostly, the young squire kept his eyes on the knights' commander. He was a tall, well built, muscular man in a fine suit of white armor. His horse was a fine white horse festooned with a red saddle and an emblem that Johan couldn't quite make out. The man took off his helmet and glowered down at the peasants. His raven black hair trailed down to his shoulders and hung behind his back. His face was masked with a cold haughty arrogance. Johan felt that there was something oddly familiar about this man that he couldn't quite place, though he had never seen him before.

"Kill those peasants! They will never rebel again!" He commanded in a voice devoid of emotions. At his command, the other knights slaughtered the peasants one by one. Johan readied his sword to charge at the murdering knights. The lead knight stopped at a peasant woman who spat on his face. "Tyrant! Black Hearted Demon!" she cursed.

"You must thank me for saving your soul woman!" the man said. But still the woman ignored him. "I curse you, may you suffer Sir Johan the Black Hearted!"

The words rang in Johan's head like cathedral bells. Sir Johan the Black Hearted! Sir Johan the Black Hearted! That monster, the one who had just ordered the slaughter of those peasants was him? No, I won't believe it, he thought.

Sir Johan turned to one of his knights. "Insolent stupid old woman, kill her and then let's make our way to the Smurf village to destroy those monsters."

"No!" Johan yelled. He lunged his sword and charged at his evil older self but fell through the image on his face. Johan listened as the clip-clop of the horses' hooves died down. He looked up at the retreating knights. This was what he would become, a self-righteous monster who instilled fear and hatred into the people. He was suddenly filled with fear and self-loathing. He would kill those peasants and the Smurfs as easily as he killed Peewit.

"But, I didn't kill Peewit," he said. "He was struck by a poison arrow."

"He was traveling at your command," a voice seemed to say. "He is dying because of you. He followed you." Johan nodded, "I know, but I won't let him die."

He stood up as he turned to the direction from which he came. "Peewit, I will save you," he vowed as he left the meadow.

Hefty looked through his surroundings. He had left the fiery tunnel and now overlooked a cliff. How did I get outside? he thought. Then a scream made his heart jump. He ran to see what the trouble was.

Smurfette was dangling by the edge of the cliff. "Hefty, help me!" she screamed.

"I have you Smurfette!" he reassured her.

He grabbed her by the hand and tried to pull her up. He was surprised that he couldn't keep hold of her. "It's alright, I'll rescue you Smurfette," the strong Smurf promised, but he puffed as he tried to keep hold. The more he struggled with her, the more he lost his grip on her, the more she slipped from him. Hefty felt limp and weak as he tried to hold onto her. She was slipping from his fingers. "Hefty, don't let go," she begged as he held her by her fingertips.

"I'm trying not to," he said as he looked at the blonde Smurf's face as she fell. She looked back at him with a desperate look as she fell from his grasp and down to the cliffs below.

"Smurfette!" he yelled. "Smurfette!" He reached down, but all he could feel was air. Then he sadly sank on the side of the cliff. Smurfette was gone, he couldn't save her and he never told her that he loved her.

"I'm so sorry Smurfette," he cried as tears rolled down his cheeks. I should have told you back at the village how I felt. He closed his eyes and thought, the village! Smurfette is still there! But how did she-? Then, suddenly he recalled he wasn't on a cliff. "This is some rotten trick!" he angrily said as he stood up. As soon as he stood, the cliff cleared away until he was in the cave again. "I have to find the others and I'm gonna give that Salamander the beating of his life!"

"Hello?" Brainy called out as he walked in the dark cave. He felt along the walls for a crevice or an opening, anything to tell him where he was. He laughed slightly. If that Elemental believes that I am terrified of the dark then he doesn't know that I realize that the dark is just a natural phenomenon, he thought. He felt along the walls as he called out to his friends, but only received an echo as a reply. He felt his way in silence until he fell into a large gap in the ground. The Smurf screamed as he fell down a hole to the ground below. The force knocked his glasses off his head. He stumbled around in the dark looking for them, on his hands and knees feeling for a sign of his glasses and then hopefully knowing where he was. His hands felt the frames and he put the glasses on his head, silently giving thanks that they weren't broken.

A loud bang made him jump. He looked up and saw that he had been thrown into a large container of some sort. He called for help, but he knew that no one would be able to hear him. Okay Brainy, you can think your way out of this, he thought. He jumped up hoping to reach the top, but barely left the floor before he fell back down.

Now what do I do? he thought. A loud and rusty squeak resounded from the sides and top of the container. Brainy tried not to look around him, but his curiosity overcame him. The sides and top were closing in on him! Brainy felt his mouth go dry and his heart pump several beats per second. He raced around the diminishing container looking for any sort of way out. "I can use my brain, I just have to think", Brainy said. "Oh Smurf, HELP!" Brainy screamed hoping that someone would hear him, but his voice became more muffled as the container closed in all around him.

Sassette screamed for the others hoping to hear another voice, but she heard nothing. The little girl Smurf tried to follow her friends, but wound up getting lost. The more she tried to look for them, the more lost and the more alone she felt. She felt a lump in her throat. Come on Sassy, don't be such a baby, she thought to herself, just find the others and find the cure for Peewit! She sat down on a rock remembering what Papa Smurf once told her about getting lost and staying where she was until someone found her. She sat on the rock looking from one end of the cave to the other hoping that the others would soon appear.

Suddenly, the rock moved and knocked her over until she tumbled to the ground. Sassette lifted her head and saw her reflection. She was standing on a red mirror. She smiled and giggled. The Smurfling stuck her tongue out and made goofy faces at the mirror. Just then, she heard a loud hiss. The mirror turned over and Sassette realized for the first time that it was not a mirror, but an eye. The other eye opened as the creature stood up on its eight legs. It was a large spider! Sassette stood up and clenched her fists.

"I ain't scared of you," she said. "It will take a lot more than that to scare me," she angrily exclaimed. The spider shrieked and it was greeted by similar sounding shrieks all throughout the cave. Sassette gulped as more spiders rose from the ground. She stepped back in fear as the spiders came towards her. "It will take something like that," she squeaked. She screamed as the spiders approached her like they would a meal.

Papa Smurf stepped out of the pit into what appeared to be a long hallway. Though torches lit the hall, the elder Smurf couldn't see because of his height. He called out to the others. "Hefty! Brainy! Sassette! Johan! Is anyone out there?"

"I am, Papa Smurf!" answered a familiar voice as the hallway suddenly became well lit enough for the Smurf to see. Papa Smurf stood face to face with the tall wizard that he knew all too well and that he hated to know.

"Gargamel! Where are the others?" Papa angrily asked.

"They're all at my place you vile disgusting Smurf," the evil wizard sneered.

"You are lying!" Papa declared.

Gargamel smiled. "Oh, am I? How do you think I got here? The Elementals and I planned this as a trap to get all of you. Nevertheless, didn't those two foolish boys try to attack my godfather?"

Papa tried to think. Was this a conspiracy between Gargamel and the Elementals? Did the wizard really have the others? Would Peewit die now? He looked squarely at the wizard.

"I don't care," Papa said. "I will defend my friends to the end!"

"Would you care to have a wizards duel?" Gargamel asked as he pulled out a wand.

"Gladly," Papa replied as he pulled out his own wand. Gargamel snidely waved his arm letting him go first.

Papa raised his hands and chanted allowing a gust of wind to blow Gargamel back. The human wizard raised his hands in mock terror, "Don't hurt me, please!" Gargamel then pointed his wand towards Papa Smurf and threw the wind back only this time, the larger gust knocked the tiny Smurf off of his feet.

"Giving up?" Gargamel taunted.

"I'm just getting smurfed up!" Papa said as he called for some energy.

Blue and purple blasts flew from his wand and scorched Gargamel. Once again, the evil wizard threw the blasts back sending them both into a powerful whirl of magic that picked up the elderly Smurf. Gargamel smiled and cackled, "Good bye Papa Smurf."

Papa Smurf struggled against the magic in fear. He tried to find a way out, but the more he struggled the more it squeezed tighter around him like a noose. "My powers are taking control. That's every wizard's worst fear," he said. "I just have to concentrate. This isn't real. It's an illusion." He kept chanting it to himself, until he felt the magic fade from him. As his fear and the illusion died, he felt someone's hand grab him. He stood and faced Hefty. The two Smurfs embraced as though they had been apart for years.

"Are you alright Papa?" Hefty asked.

"I'm fine, I just had a bit of a scare," the elderly Smurf said.

Hefty nodded. "Me too, have you seen the others?"

Papa shook his head. "Not yet," he replied.

Papa Smurf was about to suggest that they move on when they felt a sharp steel object poke at them.

"Who's there?" A familiar voice called. The two Smurfs looked up to see Johan standing over them.

"Johan, it's us", Papa said. "You've been hallucinating."

Johan blinked at the two small Smurfs. "Hefty? Papa? Is that you?"

Hefty nodded. "Who else did you think it would be?"

"Me", Johan replied flatly.

The two Smurfs exchanged puzzled glances, but hoped their friend had recovered from his illusion.

Johan's breath, came in short desperate gasps as he looked all around the cave as if to be sure that the Sir Johan the Black Hearted was no longer present. He cleared his throat and recovered. "Are you two all right?"

The other two Smurfs nodded as Hefty looked ahead.

"Is that Brainy?" The three of them exchanged glances and then ran to the direction that Hefty pointed. Brainy lay passed out on the ground. His body had turned into a light blue almost white.

"Is he-?" Hefty was about to ask.

Papa listened for his pulse and smiled. "No, he's fine." He then gently shook the Smurf. "Wake up, Brainy."

Brainy's eyes fluttered open. "Papa? Hefty? Johan?"

They shook their heads. "It was all an illusion concocted by the Elementals."

"An illusion?" Brainy asked and looked around as if seeing the tunnel for the first time. "Why didn't I-? Did you realize it?"

"Well, Hefty and Papa did," Johan said. "I had a little trouble."

Brainy looked at the other two Smurfs. "Hefty realized it? And I didn't?" He felt recovered and a little embarrassed.

A scream suddenly filled the tunnel. The four ran towards the scream. Sassette struggled on the ground trying to fight off an invisible something. "Get them off! Get them off!" she begged. Papa and Hefty grabbed the little Smurfling as she fought with them.

"It's us," Papa said. "It's just us." Sassette finally relaxed a little and then looked around in fear at Papa and Hefty. "I saw these ugly spiders that were bigger than me," she said.

"It's all right, it wasn't real," Papa reassured her. Sassette sank from their grasp when she realized that she was with the others. When she looked up at Johan, she blushed and quickly looked down feeling embarrassed. Sassette then smiled and rolled her eyes. Don't get all mushy Sassy, she thought.

"Is everyone all right?" Papa asked.

The others nodded as they heard clapping. They looked around as the tunnel faded away from them and they found themselves once again in the Salamander's domain.

The Salamander sat lazily on his rock grinning at the five companions. "Congratulations, you have all gotten through the second gate without dying or turning back. I am very impressed," he said with a tone that indicated that he was not. "Not many usually make it through, they become so upset with what they saw that they either die of fright or kill themselves. I guess I will have to juice up the scares the next time around."

"Why I oughta-!" Hefty raised his fist in an attempt to attack the Salamander. Papa and Brainy held him back as the reptilian creature's eyes glowed a murderously red and he blew fire on the Smurf, charring him.

"Because of that, I shouldn't hold my part of the bargain, but because I am a gentleman I will," the Salamander said. "Now stick out the bottle."

Papa Smurf opened the bottle as the Salamander blew fire at them. The fire became smaller and smaller until it decimated in the bottle into a red liquid.

"Thank-," Papa began.

"Don't mention it," the Salamander said.

"Where is-?" Brainy asked.

The Salamander pointed at a tunnel below them. "The third elemental is through that tunnel down below to your left. Goodbye now." Without another word he disappeared.

Johan and the Smurfs exchanged confused glances and followed the Salamander's directions through the tunnel.