A/N: So we finally get to whatever it was that Li promised Hiei...oh, yeah. It was about the Fire Stone. But just what is this fabled object? What does it do? Why do I sound like a bad movie commentator? The answers to these and more will be revealed...

Seriously, though, we finally do get to see what the Fire Stone is in this chapter, though the full extent of its powers will not be revealed for quite a while.

Disclaimer still applies. Do I own YuYu Hakusho? No. I rest my case.

-Two days later-

(Hiei's POV)

I stared at Li's back as she paused on the ridge to survey the mountains on the horizon. I still wasn't sure I believed what had happened. Two days ago, she had suddenly appeared where I had set up camp with everyone else and had proceeded to turn everything upside down. She had somehow persuaded the others to leave and go back to the mansion and even Yusuke and Kuwabara had agreed. Then, without explanation, she had taken me on a journey in the opposite direction I had been going.

Now, I resolved to get to the bottom of this matter. She took a deep breath before starting down the hill, but I reached out and snagged her sleeve, catching her attention. She stopped and turned to look at me, her expression showing me only curiosity.

"Yes, Hiei? What can I do for you?"

"You can give me an explanation." I replied shortly. "What's going on and why are you taking me to the Sakachi Mountains?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "Very well. I will give you an explanation. But--" She suddenly grinned. "Not until we get where I'm taking you."

I sighed. There was no sense in talking to her now; all she'd do would be to avoid my questions. Grimacing, I reached down and hoisted the heavy pack onto my shoulder. We started down the hill and something occurred to me.

"Hey, Li? We want to get there soon, right? So why don't you make a portal? It'd save us a whole lot of walking." The taller girl stopped dead and turned to me with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

"You know what? I had totally forgotten about my being able to do that. Well, no use crying over spilt milk, as they say. Still, we would take at least another three days to get where we're going if we walked versus the four seconds it takes to walk through a portal. Good idea, Hiei." So saying, she turned back around, summoned a portal and gestured me through it. I just shook my head and trudged through it, not quite knowing what to expect.

A few seconds after I emerged from the portal, I heard it close and felt Li come up next to me. I didn't look at her, however, my attention being held by what I was seeing.

All around me were stone walls, but not made of just any stone. The pale red rock was a rare type of stone called flame quartz and I had never seen so much in one place. The walls were those of a large cave, spacious enough for twelve people to stand fingertip to fingertip across it and thirty people long. We had come in at one end: at the other, a long silver table was placed. On it was a single item, a rough-hewn wooden cup. There was something in it, but I couldn't tell what it was. Curious, I started to go closer, but Li's hand on my arm arrested me. I glanced over my shoulder at her.

"Not yet." She said quietly. "I need to explain." I nodded, understanding. She took a deep breath and began.

"Do you remember two years ago when you asked for my help finding that one thing?" It took me a moment, but at last I remembered. I nodded again. "Well, since then, I've looked it up and done a little research. What I've found is that the Guide was not meant to be a tool to find it, but rather a stepping stone. Since you asked, I have prepared everything you'll need to get that item.

"That cup is the vertex of all of the powers that will be used. Before you look in it, though, I want to warn you. In my research, I've found out something about the item, but in finding out about it, I in turn swore to secrecy about it, except with those who already know. All I can do is warn you that that item won't work like you think it will. In fact, there is a good chance that you won't even survive the contact. I only brought you here because I think that you have what it takes to survive, if you'll only find what you need."

She paused and then finished simply. "You may go ahead, now. Good luck." I studied her face for a long moment before turning back to the table and the strange cup on it.

Her expression hadn't been too encouraging, but I couldn't see what was all that dangerous about the cup. Looking down into the cup, I saw that it held a coal, about as big as my fist. The coal was live and seemed to be pulsing gently, like a heart. Li's voice echoed off the quartz walls.

"Pick it up." I reached down and closed my hand around the pulsing coal. Surprisingly, it wasn't as hot as I'd expected. Thrown off guard, I was startled when the cave around me began to swirl and disappear. Then everything went black and I remembered no more.

-Three days later-

(Kaminari's POV)

I couldn't stand it anymore. If that idiot Lithis tried just one more time to make me laugh, I was going to decapitate him with my bare hands. For the past few days, I had been 'entertained' by my host, the self-proclaimed Lord Lithis. As I watched him attempt to juggle, I allowed myself to space out, letting my mind wander.

Somehow, it landed on the subject of Hiei. I was just about positive of Tori's feelings towards the fire demon, but Hiei's feelings towards her were unfathomable. Plus, he wasn't here to ask.

Just then, there was a disturbance at the entrance to the hall we were currently in. From what I could gather from the voices that drifted down the hall, there was someone trying to get in the hall without permission. Then there was a bright flash of red light and the voices ceased. Lithis stood up and strode down the hall to investigate with me right behind him. I was curious to know what was going on and who was there.

As we neared the doors leading into the hall, I began to make out a figure in the doorway. For a moment, I didn't recognize who it was, but then I did and I nearly fainted with relief.

Hiei! Hiei had come! As relieved as I was to see him, I couldn't help but worry about his safety. After all, Lithis had proven himself to be a powerful demon and I wasn't sure if Hiei was up to fighting him and winning. Then I noticed the odd aura surrounding him and my happiness was replaced with confusion. How had his aura become so powerful in the few days I/Tori had been gone?

I held back as Lithis went to confront the shorter fire demon. No use in getting in the way and possibly getting hurt, at any rate.

(Hiei's POV)

I watched the tall demon stride towards me with confidence. Li had told me that his name was Lithis, but other than that, no one knew much about him except that he was trying to take over all three worlds. At twelve paces away, he stopped to regard me with contempt; he obviously thought I was beneath his station. Well, that would soon change.

"Who are you and what do you presume by coming in here uninvited?" He asked in a thundering voice meant to cast fear into his victim. I didn't bat an eyelid.

"My name is of no consequence to you, since you will shortly be dead and will have no need to know my name." He shrugged.

"Very well. I accept your challenge, but shouldn't I be informed as to the nature of the prize?" A slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, though his eyes remained cold and distant.

"Certainly. She is standing behind you." Lithis seemed disconcerted for a moment before turning slightly to regard Kaminari, who had been standing a short ways off the entire time. I allowed my gaze to flicker over to her before returning to the demon in front of me. He turned slowly back to me and now I could see a flame of fury smoldering in his eyes.

That's right…get angry. It will only make your downfall all that much harder, I thought, smiling to myself.

"Well, then. Perhaps we might take this argument somewhere else, then. It certainly would not do if I won and my castle was abolished in the process."

I agreed. "That would be fine. I will see you in twenty minutes at the top of the Devil's Fingers, then. It's quite all right, I can show myself out." With that, I turned and walked away, not glancing back to see his reaction.

(Kaminari's POV)

Twenty minutes after Hiei had left the hall, I followed Lithis as he mounted the stairs in his castle that led to the top of the Devil's Fingers. He had been fitted out in his armor, an outfit similar to the one he had kidnapped Tori in.

As he mounted the stairs, he muttered to himself, low enough that I couldn't hear the distinct words but just loud enough that it was a constant buzz in my ears. Finally, though, we came to the top of the staircase and he stopped muttering long enough to shove the door open. It had been built for more normal sized people, so he had to bend nearly in half to get through while I only had to duck my head slightly.

Outside, I had to shade my eyes as they got used to the bright light of the Makai sun. After they had adjusted, I looked around in interest. It had been nearly four hundred years since I had last been here, when I had first met Hiei and fought him. Nothing major had changed, except that there was maybe a little more open space in a more bounded area. Looking out over the edge of the sheer cliff, I found I could see the Silent Forest, meaning we were on the north side of the rock formation known as Devil's Fingers.

Turning around, I appraised both of the combatants. Lithis seemed to not be affected much by the heat, but trudging up the stairs in his armor had taken a toll on him and I could see his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Hiei, on the other hand, was obviously sweating, but he had spent the time in the shade, polishing his sword and putting a fresh edge on it. Looking back at Lithis with a curious eye, I noted that his weapons, although large and obviously lethal, were actually rather dull. I supposed he thought his strength would more than make up for the lack of keenness on his blades.

Hiei stood up then, and came to stand directly opposite Lithis. "Well, shall we get this over with then?" He said, fingering the hilt of his sheathed sword. Suddenly, seeing him there next to Lithis, I thought he looked much smaller than usual and I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to beat the tall demon. Lithis laughed, a hollow sound that echoed off the rock.

"Indeed, my little friend. Indeed we shall." With that he lunged forward with impossible speed, his scythe making a bright arc as it sliced the air towards Hiei. But the fire demon was no longer there. Silently, he drew his sword and slashed downwards from his position on top of the tall demon's back. Lithis bellowed with pain and twirled around, sending Hiei flying off to hit the rock face twenty yards away.

When the dust had settled, I was surprised to not see Hiei once more. Then Lithis bellowed again and I realized that the fire demon had pulled the same trick again. Now Lithis was bleeding freely from the two gashes in his back. They weren't near any vital spots and were shallow, so they would stop bleeding fairly quickly, but I'd have been ready to bet quite a bit that they stung terribly.

Huffing as he tried to catch his breath, Lithis regarded the small demon in front of him with eyes quickly glazing over in red battle lust. Suddenly, he lunged again, this time quicker than the previous time. Hiei was caught off guard and although he managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, the blade still caught him in the side, ripping a long gash that started bleeding immediately.

He stumbled away for a few yards, but he'd already lost too much blood. Tilting to one side, he let his body weight take him the rest of the way so that he was laying on his uninjured side, facing towards Lithis. I knew that if he didn't do something or if Lithis wasn't distracted, he would die at the hands of the towering demon. Lithis raised his scythe for the final blow.

A/N: Waah! Hiei's gonna diiiee!

Not really, but you never know with these things. And again, I'm using a non-traditiional Japanese name for a character. So sue me.

Y'know...there's been like no mindspeech for several chapters...well, that will be taken care of eventually, so don't worry. It was just something that I noticed.

I've finally gotten out of my creative slump (more or less) and will be working more on The Fire Lord, so you'll be able to read more sooner! Yay!

Haliaetus