Chapter 21: Burn For You
The last few days of their journey to Mount Gulg passed all too swiftly for the Light Warriors. Though the Gulg River became narrower and swifter as they continued upstream, they still reached their destination within four days, making landfall around mid-morning near the foot of Mount Gulg.
The volcano stood off somewhat from the surrounding mountains, and though it did not quite match them in height, that it sat separated from them lent it an imposing air. Steam hissed from its bare, rocky slopes, and a thin line of ashy smoke unfurled from the crater at its summit. Some congealed lava, scattered blocks, and a layer of ash over the ground and dead trees provided testament of a recent minor eruption, but at the moment, the mountain appeared quiet.
The companions beached their canoes on the shore of the small lake from which the Gulg River sprang. Rath stared at the volcano, studying it, while the others began preparing to enter. They had bought some special heat-resistant equipment in Crescent Lake to help protect them in the volcano: gloves, vambraces, stockings, and new padding to go beneath Cen's chainmail. In addition, Sapphire had performed a successful test earlier to make certain her NulBlaze spell, which repelled heat and fire, was working properly. She was quick to point out, however, that this would not grant them immunity against the heat, and most definitely not the magma, and that they would still need to be very careful.
"Don't worry about it," Cen said, his voice muffled as he pulled on his chainmail. "We know to be careful; I mean, look at what just a campfire tried to do to us. I know I learned my lesson about dealing with hot things." He strapped on his sword belt, then grabbed his pack and started rifling through it.
"Yeah, plus El told us all those stories about goin' treasure-huntin' in Hellfire Chasm," Estel added. He sat on the edge of a canoe as he pulled on his boots. "Don't gotta hear those twice to know what not to do."
"Okay." Cen straightened up and looked around at the group. "All we're bringing in there are potions and water bottles, so everyone figure out a way to carry what they need without having to hike their pack in there with them."
He went back to searching through his pack as the others set to work. After a bit more rummaging, he found what he was looking for: his shard of red crystal, its interior dark and murky. He removed the knife from his belt and inserted the crystal into the sheath instead, then set about collecting water bottles.
"…Caine?" Sapphire, potion bottles in hand, looked over at Caine as he was setting up the campsite. "Are you going to come in with us?"
Caine shook his head. "I must remain with the supplies. If something were to damage the boats, we would be unable to return to the town."
"Oh…" A worried look began to come over Sapphire, and she frowned. "Yes, of course…" She hesitated, then turned away, slipping the potions into her pockets and moving to fetch water bottles of her own.
Estel paused in his work and watched her as she did this. He frowned in thought, then took a step toward her.
"Here, Saph, lemme see those bottles. I'll fill 'em up for you."
Sapphire blinked in slight surprise, but she then smiled. "Thank you, Estel." She handed him the water bottles.
Estel smiled back and started toward the water's edge. A comment from Rath, however, brought him up short:
"Were I you, I would not do that."
Estel bit his tongue to keep from snapping, but Cen gave Rath a puzzled look.
"Why not?"
"The water here is bad," Rath replied. He had opened his own water bottles and now directed a thin stream of cold energy into each of them, filling them with ice.
Cen blinked. "The water's bad? But it's been fine the whole way up."
"Taste it, if you do not believe me."
Looking a bit dubious, Cen went to the edge of the lake, crouched, and scooped up some water. He took a swallow and almost immediately spat it back out with an oath.
"Ug, you're right! Something must have gotten into it up here."
"Acid from the volcanic emissions," Rath said. "Here." He set his own bottles aside and held out a hand. "Hand me the others; I will fill them."
Once everything was ready, the companions bade farewell to Caine, assuring him they would return by evening, and approached Mount Gulg. The mountain rumbled as they drew near it, smoke belching from the summit and small rocks tumbling down the slopes. Estel glared up at the volcano, and Rath's eyes narrowed.
"I believe we are expected."
"No kidding." Cen frowned at the mountain as well. "We'll just lay into her as soon as we get to the Crystal. Don't give her a chance to get ready. We don't want to just repeat what happened last time."
Sapphire went a bit pale and looked away, watching new steam jets burst from the ground at the volcano's foot. Estel put his hand on her shoulder and gave Cen a look.
"Don't worry about it, Saph. We're ready this time."
The ground under their feet shook, and more smoke billowed forth from the mountain's peak. Ash began to fall from the growing cloud overhead, and angry red light began to shine from the volcano's crater. Lava bombs and blocks of stone began to shoot into the air as well, the bombs leaving glowing trails behind them.
Cen swore. "Of course. Of course!"
"Okay!" Estel yelled. "Okay, we're comin'! Quit throwin' a fit about it, huh?"
The rumbling subsided, and the glow around the crater faded. Estel gaped.
"Shit, can she actually hear us in there?"
"Why do we not ask her?" Rath said, his tone rather snide. He turned away. "Come. We must find the entrance."
Ash continued to rain down as the Light Warriors scrambled about the mountain's base, searching for an opening. For all they found, however, they may well have had to resort to climbing to the peak and jumping into the volcano's vent. Finally, Rath found a long, narrow tunnel, partially obscured by rock and ash, piercing the mountain's side. Far off at the end of it, a faint red glow could be seen.
The group gathered around it, and Cen kicked aside some of the ash and rocks so they could enter. He stared down the tunnel, then looked back at his companions.
"Okay. Are we ready?" He glanced particularly at Estel, who had his eyes shut and was taking very deep breaths. "Estel, are you going to be okay?"
After another few breaths, Estel nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, let's just get going."
"Right. Okay, come on." Cen strode forward into the tunnel, followed by the other Light Warriors.
The heat hit them like a solid wall the moment they entered the volcano. Compared to this, the summer-like temperatures outside seemed trifling, like a candle flame before a bonfire. The air, thick and hot and suffocating, shimmered with the heat, and the stone of the cavern hissed and steamed. The red glow of the magma, bright enough now to see by, blazed up from somewhere below, lurid and scorching.
The companions stopped as they entered the large cavern, gasping as they tried to breathe in the stifling heat, sweat beading out on their faces. Rath sagged at once, sweltering inside his heavy robes and overshadowing hat. Estel began to swear, telling various deities where exactly they could stick the Fire Crystal, Mount Gulg, and the quest in general. Sapphire winced as she heard all this, but Cen just ignored it.
"That spell of yours will work in here, right, Sapphire?"
Sapphire shook off her moral indignation and nodded. She lifted her hand and murmured under her breath, red sparkles dancing around her fingertips. She spoke the last word, and the sparkles linked, forming something like a translucent red bubble. This bubble expanded until it surrounded the group, then it shrank, leaving a thin magical film over each person. The film soon faded from view, leaving behind a drastic lessening of the terrible heat of the volcano. Cen relaxed, Estel stopped swearing and instead looked only disgruntled, and Rath gave an audible sigh of relief.
"All right." Sweat trickling down his face, Cen stepped forward to the edge of the ledge on which they stood and looked around at the gaping cavern. Smoke rose up in a plume through its center. "So where do we go from here?"
"Back outside!"
"Estel, stop it."
Rath and Sapphire stepped forward to stand beside Cen, Sapphire pushing back her hood as she went. Below them, magma flowed down to the gaping hole in the center from which the smoke emanated, draining back into the chamber below. At the level of the companions' ledge, a stone ridge, wide enough for two people to walk abreast, ran around the perimeter of the cavern. Rath pointed this out.
"There is our path," he said, his usually sharp tone somewhat wilted. "The way onward will be somewhere along that."
"Oh, yes!" Sapphire pointed off to their right. "See, there's another opening."
Cen looked where Sapphire was pointing, squinting through the hazy air.
"Right, I see it," he said after a pause. "Let's get going, then. The sooner we get to the Shrine, the sooner we can get out of here."
The group started out along the ledge, walking single file and trying to avoid touching the steaming wall on their right. The heat felt even worse here, baking upward from the magma below. Reaching and entering the tunnel Sapphire had spotted eased things, however, because it sloped down and outward from the volcano, leading away from the main magma chamber and lowering the temperature to something vaguely more manageable. The group exited the tunnel, passed through a long, narrow cavern, and entered another tunnel, this one bending back toward the heart of the volcano. The temperature began to climb again.
In the next chamber, a long, winding one, magma could again be seen far below, sending up its suffocating heat. No convenient ridge ran along the wall here, however; instead, large pedestals of stone protruded at intervals from the magma below. Thanks to all the twisting and turning of the chamber, the exit to the next could not be seen from the companions' vantage point.
Cen scrutinized the situation while the others blotted the sweat from their faces.
"Do either of you know some kind of…floating spell?" he asked at length, turning to look at Rath and Sapphire.
Sapphire shook her head, and Rath gave a faded version of his withering glare.
"Float is Air magic. Use of it became impossible when the Shrine of Wind fell."
Cen glared. "Don't give me that tone. I'm not a mage; why would I know that?"
Rath started to retort, then stopped, shaking his head and turning away. Cen turned back to look at the stone columns.
"Okay, fine. Guess there's nothing else for it." He glanced back at the others. "We're going to have to jump the platforms."
Estel groaned. "Jumpin' around in this heat? You gotta be kiddin' me."
Sapphire edged to the brink and peered down at the magma with apprehension.
"Will we be able to make it across all of them?"
"I don't see why not," Cen said, once again studying the tall blocks of stone. "They're pretty close together; the farthest can't be more than six feet apart. And they're pretty big, so we can get a running start. Everyone should be able to jump the smaller gaps, and…" He turned and looked from Rath to Sapphire and back for a moment, then sighed. "I guess I can carry you two over one at a time if you don't think you can make the long jumps. Have to be careful with the armor now, though." He glanced down at his chainmail. "It's starting to heat up pretty bad. I can feel it."
"Oh…" Estel nodded knowingly and grinned. "So now you're really hot, not just the way all the girls say you are, huh?" He gave Sapphire a quick wink as she blushed at his joke, then he hurried and jumped to the nearest pedestal before Cen could hit him.
Cen decided to take the moral high ground and did not pursue him. He instead turned to Sapphire as she got control of herself.
"Do you want me to help you over?"
Sapphire examined the gap again, then shook her head.
"No, I…I think I can make it."
Cen nodded. "Okay. Rath?" He turned to Rath in time to see him finishing knotting up his robes in preparation for the jump. He raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I guess that answers my question. Right, you two go first; I'll take the rear."
The companions made their way, leaping from rock to rock, across the winding cavern. Cen and Estel had the easiest time of things, though Rath did surprisingly well, managing to clear even the longest jumps on his own. Sapphire, on the other hand, required assistance several times, Cen having to carry her slung over his shoulder like a sack when he made the jump himself. Finally, the group reached another ledge jutting from the cavern wall, behind which a new tunnel led to the right and down.
Estel immediately flung himself to the ground, panting and with sweat pouring off him. He opened one of his water bottles, the ice inside already completely melted, and drained half of it before speaking.
"Cen, don't take this personally, but your Shrine is a pain in the ass."
"As crude as the phrasing may be, I am forced to agree with Estel's assesment." Rath sounded awful now, his voice hoarse and his breathing very ragged as he slumped against the wall. He lifted a hand, and a bubble of darkness appeared around him. After a pause, the others could hear him gulping down the contents of his water bottles.
Cen drained half a bottle, then emptied the rest of the water over his head. The liquid hissed as it touched his armor.
"Can't blame either of you for that. Sapphire?" He looked down at Sapphire where she sat beside Estel, busy emptying one of her own bottles. "I know you don't want this kind of thing to happen, but if I die during the fight? Don't bring me back right away. I want to go find Ifrit first and ask him why he thought this would be a good idea."
The group just sat and rested for a while, trying to get their breath back. Once Rath reappeared, he refilled everyone's water bottles, Sapphire recast her NulBlaze spell, and the group continued onward into the curved, sloping tunnel.
Unlike the last chamber, the next cavern was wide and open. Several huge columns of stone, reaching from the magma below to the ceiling, stood dotted around. A wide ridge of stone surrounded each one. No path from one to another could be seen. Estel groaned as he saw this and smacked his head against the tunnel wall a few times in frustration, but Cen just gave a resigned sigh.
"Looks like this place just has one trick to it." He shook his head. "Well, okay, fine. I can play along." He started studying the columns and ridges, gauging distances in his head and frowning. The others watched him, though Sapphire kept glancing down at the magma below, now nearer than it had been.
"Okay," Cen said at last. "This'll be tougher than the last one, since we won't have quite as much running space. So…" He looked from Rath to Sapphire. "…unless you're completely, totally sure you can make the jump, I'm carrying you. It's just really lucky neither of you weigh very much, is all I can say."
The group went on, leaping from ridge to ridge. Cen made more jumps than any of the others, often returning to fetch Rath after dropping off Sapphire. They had to be more careful here with less room to get a running start or correct a poor landing; a few times, Estel miscalculated and stumbled face-first into one of the columns. No one fell short, however, even on the last and longest jump to the ledge bearing the passage onward. Cen, flushed and so overhot that he had stopped sweating, came across last with Rath. Cen struck the ledge with both feet, then fell to his knees. He sat down hard after putting Rath down, wincing and trying to stretch his cramped muscles. Estel and Sapphire were too busy drinking to speak yet, but Rath watched him, eyes narrowed.
"Okay." Cen emptied his half-full bottle over his head and drank down the contents of his third. "Done. Now everyone start praying really hard that we don't have to do anything like that again."
He started to get to his feet, but before he could do more than rise to one knee, Rath stepped forward and pushed him back to the ground. Cen landed with a thump and a grunt of surprise and scowled at Rath.
"What was that for?"
"You are going nowhere yet."
Rath's tone allowed for no argument, and Cen did not even try, instead looking baffled. Rath knelt beside Cen, studied his face, and felt his forehead. Estel and Sapphire watched this with mounting confusion, but Cen began to look annoyed again.
"Rath, what are you doing? I'm fine."
"Hardly." Rath removed his hand from Cen's head. He unslung two of his own water bottles and handed them to Cen. "Drink them both. Now."
Cen scowled. "Cut it out. I'm fine. Just fill my bottles up again and I'll drink those the next time we stop. What's wrong with you, anyway?"
A steely, unyielding look came into Rath's golden eyes. "You will drink these, and do so now. You have had scarcely as much water as the rest of us, yet you have exerted yourself twice as hard. Drink."
Cen opened his mouth to protest again, but before he could utter even one syllable, Rath delivered a sharp flick to his temple and snapped a word in a language the others did not know. His tone made the meaning clear, however: Cen would obey Rath's instructions or suffer something much worse than a throbbing temple. Cen stared at him, then, frowning and rubbing where Rath had hit him, he reached out and took the bottles. He opened one and began to drink. Rath, steely look still in place, took Cen's empty bottles and began refilling them with ice.
Estel and Sapphire stared at the pair of them, baffled.
"What the hell was that?" Estel said once he found his voice.
"A reprimand," Rath said, and continued before Estel could reply. "Finish off what you are drinking and give the bottles to me."
The pair obeyed at once.
Cen, first bottle finished, stopped partway through opening the second and stared at Rath for a moment.
"You're the oldest kid in your family, aren't you?"
Rath's expression switched from stern to furious in seconds. Cen raised a hand in a warding gesture.
"That's just the same tone Tris used to use with me all the time. I figured it was a big brother sort of thing." He opened the bottle. "You really need to relax."
Rath shot a piqued look at him but seemed somewhat mollified by Cen's explanation. He went back to ice-making, and after he finished, he shrouded himself in darkness again. The others could hear the sound of drinking coming from inside the dark bubble, and they took advantage of Rath's "absence" to exchange perplexed looks.
"He just tries to not make any sense, huh?" Estel said.
Cen shook his head. "Seems like."
Sapphire stared at the bubble of darkness, frowning.
"I think he…he's trying to be nice…"
"Yeah, well, he's sure got a funny way of doing it." Cen rubbed his temple again.
"This barrier is not soundproof, you realize," came Rath's voice, sounding irritated. "I can hear you."
A moment later, the darkness vanished, revealing a glaring Rath.
"I am attempting to help us reach the Crystal and the Fiend without succumbing to heat exhaustion. If you presume I harbor an ulterior motive, you are sorely mistaken."
He got to his feet, murmured something, and waved a hand toward the others. A rush of cold air flowed over them, repelling the heat. Sapphire shut her eyes and gave a sigh of relief, as did Estel, and Cen relaxed as his armor cooled. As quickly as it came, the coldness vanished, taking its brief respite with it.
"Now," Rath said, "we may go."
The next tunnel led to another winding chamber, but this one had wide ridges once more lining the walls, and long, arched bridges of stone connected wall to wall, spanning the magma below. Though this way they had to walk for sometimes lengthy distances with the magma directly below them, sending up its scorching heat, they preferred this greatly to hopping from stone to stone and risking exhaustion or a fall into molten rock. This chamber went on longer than any of those previous and led to another much like it, with ridges and arches of stone to traverse over the magma, which looked nearer than ever. At the end of each of these caverns, Rath insisted the group stop and each person completely empty all their water bottles, whether through drinking them or dumping the contents over themselves. None of the others contested the necessity of this.
The tunnel at the end of the second winding room had a much steeper grade than the others. Cen, in the lead, proceded along it cautiously, but without warning it became glass-smooth and nearly vertical, and he slid down with a shout. The other companions hurried forward to find out what had happened, and slipped and tumbled down as well.
The tunnel curved and twisted like a massive snake. The clatter of Cen's armor, shield, and sword striking the glassy sides made an awful, echoing din as the companions hurtled toward the tunnel's end. Finally, a blaze of red appeared before them, and the tunnel wall coarsened; Cen dug his heels and elbows in, dragging himself to a stop so he did not shoot from the tunnel like a bolt from a crossbow. He halted just before the tunnel's end, then braced himself as the other three Warriors slammed into him.
"Ohh…" Sapphire groaned. "Oh, that hurt…"
"Sorry 'bout that, Saph."
"Cen, what is below us?" Rath called from the rear. "Can we exit safely?"
Wincing, Cen looked down. The tunnel exited from a ceiling at an angle; had Cen not halted them, the companions would have shot out, skidded across the huge block of stone beneath the tunnel opening, and in all likelihood fallen into the magma, which flowed and bubbled less than twenty feet below the lip of the stone block. Cen shut his eyes for a moment, breathing deep and thanking all the gods he could think of, then he called back to Rath.
"There's a rock under us. A big one. The drop's only about…" He eyeballed the distance. "…about eight feet. Maybe nine. I'll drop down—you guys all brace your feet in so you don't fall—then you scoot down and join me. I'll catch anyone who doesn't just want to fall and hit the rock."
He relaxed and slid forward, down and out of the tunnel and to the large block below. Above, Sapphire yelped as she began to slip, but Estel, his feet dug hard into the gritty stone, caught her around the waist to keep her from falling. Cen looked up at her and held his arms out.
"Okay, Sapphire, come on down. I'll catch you."
Sapphire looked down, biting her lip, then nodded back at Estel. He let her go, and she slid down and landed right in Cen's arms. She smiled her thanks as he set her down, and he grinned in return, then jumped out of the way as Estel came shooting out, tumbling as he hit the stone and hopping to his feet. He gave a sweeping bow, and Sapphire giggled and applauded. Rath tumbled out with a distinct lack of flair or dignity, clutching his hat on his head and stumbling as he struck the rock.
With everyone safely down, Cen turned away to check the cavern. Stone bridges spanned out from the rock to connect to wide paths of solid rock set in the magma. Beyond that, just visible through the hazy, shimmering air, more bridges led to large openings carved in the rock of the chamber's outermost wall. Cen turned slowly, looking around at these eight paths and frowning. The others left him to his contemplation, taking the opportunity to take long drinks from their water bottles.
"So what d'you think?" Estel asked after a minute or so.
"I'm…not sure," Cen said, still frowning. "I keep getting this feeling that it's this way, though." He pointed to one of the bridges leading off a corner of the stone. "I don't know why I feel like that's right, but I do."
"It's guidance," Sapphire said. "From the gods and forces. They're helping us."
Estel looked upward.
"Thanks for that. Next time we gotta go in a place like this, though, could Shiva please come down and play tagalong? That'd be even more helpful."
Sapphire did not quite know whether to be amused by this prayer or not, and so just blinked at Estel in slight puzzlement. Cen, on the other hand, grinned.
"Yeah, I'll second that. Knowing which way to go works just fine for me too, though. Come on, let's get going."
He led the group across the bridges and path and into the yawning opening, past which was a broad tunnel. They turned a corner, and set in the wall they found a tall metal door like that which they had seen in Jord Cave: the entrance to the Shrine. A heavy latch held it shut, and the metal glowed a dull red.
Sapphire went very pale for reasons that had nothing to do with the heat. Estel watched her with concern, while Cen and Rath both examined the door.
"I can't open that," Cen said. "It'd melt my hands off."
"That can be prevented. For the moment, we must prepare; after that, we can contend with this matter."
Rath proceded to do his rounds of making everyone drink all of their water, and this time he distributed potions as well, along with ethers—the pale blue sugar cube items—for himself and Sapphire. Sapphire went from white to crimson as he handed her one, and he gave her an incredulous, exasperated look.
"You cannot be serious."
Sapphire mumbled something. Rath lifted his gaze to the ceiling.
"I should not have expected otherwise. Very well." He waved a hand, and a bubble of darkness surrounded Sapphire. "Is that satisfactory?"
"…Yes."
Rath made a derisive little sound under his breath, but then conjured a shroud of darkness for himself as well. Cen and Estel exchanged looks.
"You're both crazy," Cen said to the blobs of darkness. "You know that, right?"
"I thank you for that assessment," Rath said icily. A moment later he reappeared and waved away the shadows around Sapphire. "However, we currently lack the time to discuss my and Sapphire's mental states. We have a more pressing matter at hand."
He turned to the door, lifted a hand, and muttered something. A burst of clear, sparkling cold flew from his hand and struck the door, extinguishing the red glow and covering the metal with thick frost. The metal groaned.
Rath stepped back. "Break it down," he said to Cen.
Cen started to protest, but then he caught sight of Rath's glare and changed his mind. He backed up as far as he could, then charged forward and slammed into the door. Made brittle by the sudden cold, the metal shattered, and Cen tumbled into the chamber beyond. Estel and Sapphire hurried forward to help him up.
The heat skyrocketed from what it had been just out in the tunnel, leaving the companions suddenly gasping for breath once more; Sapphire hurried to recast her NulBlaze spell over them. Unlike Lich's chamber, this room had no rock formations to speak of, aside from two large, broad cones like miniature volcanoes toward the rear. The Altar, on the other hand, looked identical to that in Jord Cave, except that the massive, cracked Crystal had a red tinge to it rather than a yellow one. Aside from these three features, the large chamber was empty. Nothing could be seen of the Fiend.
Cen took a tentative step forward, his hand on his sword hilt. The others followed him and looked around, Sapphire doing so with reluctance, but they could see no one besides themselves in the chamber. Cen frowned in suspicion.
"Looks like nobody's home."
Just then, a voice spoke up from behind one of the cones.
"There you are!" Definitely female, the voice sounded throaty and almost alluring, though also, at the moment, angry. "It took you long enough to get here!"
From behind the cone emerged a woman's head, almost perfectly human aside from her fiery orange skin, crowned with golden hair done up in elaborate, rigid spikes. Her bare shoulders and arms, ringed with gold bangles, appeared next, and she folded them atop the cone's flat peak. She was strikingly beautiful, something the companions had not expected in the least, and it was obvious even at a distance that should this woman stand up straight, she would be nearly twelve feet tall. Her eyes, glowing like hot coals, stayed fixed on the Light Warriors.
"So, you're the ones," she said, her voice at once lovely and harsh. "You're the ones who killed Lich and woke me from my slumber." Her face twisted in anger, and she straightened up a bit. "How could you?! How could you do something so awful?!"
"I…what?"
Cen stared, looking as though he had just been slapped in the face. Estel and Sapphire shared similar looks of confusion, and Rath raised an eyebrow. The Fiend continued her rant.
"You ruined everything! He and I were so close to each other; he was my favorite, and I was his, out of all of us. He had promised to be here waiting for me when I awoke. We were going to spend my first moments of freedom together." Gleaming drops of liquid fire fell down her face: the Fiend was crying. "It was going to be so wonderful, and you ruined it! You should be ashamed of yourselves!"
The companions looked less ashamed than deeply confused. Estel alone looked vaguely guilty, though this may only have been an instinctive reaction to seeing a woman cry because of something he had done. Cen glanced at Rath, who just rolled his eyes, then turned back to the Fiend.
"Yeah, sorry, but it was either him or the rest of the world. Besides, he started it."
The Fiend sniffed and flicked away her tears. "I knew you wouldn't feel any remorse. You're all heartless." She looked at Sapphire, who gave a squeak of fear and half-hid behind Estel. "You should understand, at least. You lost someone in that cave as well. You know how much it hurts."
Sapphire flushed and did not answer. Estel, however, began putting together what the Fiend had said, and a look of disgust started to come over him.
"Her and Lich…? Urg…"
The Fiend gave a haughty toss of her head.
"As if you'd appreciate it, little boy. You wouldn't know what to do with me."
Estel spluttered, but the Fiend went on, sparing him from having to reply.
"Even if I wasn't going to kill you anyway, I would just because you killed Lich."
She unfolded her arms and rose up, revealing more bare skin, with only a scant strip of too-tight fabric across her ample chest to preserve any kind of modesty. Cen and Rath blinked and suddenly became unable to look directly at her. Estel stared for a moment, gaping, but then he cringed and shot a very guilty look at Sapphire before resolutely looking at anything except the Fiend. Even more shocking than the Fiend's attire, however, were the four other bangle-adorned arms that came into view as she pushed herself upright.
"You have Marilith, mistress of fire, to deal with now, Light Warriors. And if you can barely survive my home, how can you think to survive me in my anger?"
With the rasping sound of scales against stone, Marilith moved from behind the cone and revealed her lower half to be not that of a woman, but the sinuous body of a monstrous snake. She slithered toward the Light Warriors, eyeing them, and a glint came into her eyes as she examined Cen. A crooked smirk twisted her lips.
"Hm… Or maybe I'll leave you. You could be a…replacement for what you took from me. I'm sure Brother and Sister wouldn't mind."
Cen managed to look both confused and appalled. "What?"
Marilith did not answer. She slid around behind the companions, a thoughtful look on her face. Cen and Sapphire turned their heads to watch her, and Rath turned around completely, not letting her get behind him, but Estel kept his eyes firmly in the opposite direction. The glint in Marilith's eyes became stronger and stronger.
"Oh yes, we could have so much fun together…"
"I don't think so," Cen said, keeping his narrowed eyes on Marilith and trying to kick Estel into paying attention.
Marilith moved back in front of the group and bent down so her face was level with Cen's. Her eyes gleamed, though she stuck out her lower lip in a pout.
"Oh, don't you want to play with me? I know you'd have a good time…"
She reached out and stroked Cen's cheek, and her fingertips left thin burns in their wake, an angry red against Cen's skin. Cen looked a bit lost for a moment, his eyes glazing over, but he shook himself out of it and backed away, drawing his sword. The mythril blade glinted in the red light. Another smirk twisted Marilith's mouth.
"Ooh, very nice. And are you any good with that sword of yours?"
Rath grimaced at this comment, and Estel looked up at Marilith in disgust.
"Very," Cen said. "What about you?"
Marilith's smile grew smug and enticing, and she ran her tongue out over her lower lip. "Oh, I'm an expert. Here, I'll show you."
"Oh no, you won't!" Estel roared, almost flailing with revulsion. "Cen…!"
"Estel, shut up!" Cen hissed back.
Marilith laughed, a high-pitched, shrieking sound. She slithered away from the companions, crouched, and pressed her six hands to the stone. It melted at her touch, and she reached down as far as she could, all the time keeping her eyes on the companions. She then straightened, molten stone dripping off her arms, and in each hand she now held a sword, some straight, some serrated, some curved and hooked. She spun them, twirling them and tossing them from hand to hand, then adopted a complicated battle stance.
"Come dance with me, Warrior," she purred, and then she lunged.
Rath cast Haste just in time, and Cen, motions blurred and quickened, charged forward to meet the Fiend. Sparks and flame flew as her six blades rained down on his blade and shield, and though he parried each strike, his sword a gleaming silver-blue blur, she began at once to press him backward, and step by step he lost ground to her. Marilith did not laugh, but her leer remained in place.
"I hope you can keep up with me. It would be so embarrassing for you if you died too soon. So anti-climactic. Not to mention no fun for me."
"Oh shut up!"
Cen tumbled out from Marilith's flurry of blows and slashed at her flame-colored tail. Marilith shrieked and jerked away, then resumed her assault with redoubled force.
With a flash of green, another Haste spell sped Estel as well, and despite embarrassment, he drew his sword and ran out to help Cen. But dividing Marilith's attention did nothing to impair her; her eyes alight, she swung her blades from one to the other and back, ricocheting strikes and worsening her onslaught. She pursued the pair around the chamber as they continued to yield ground to her. The sound of metal striking metal filled the broiling hot air.
"Protect them," Rath said to Sapphire, then he pressed his hands together before him as though in prayer. He began muttering under his breath, and the temperature around him plummeted.
At once, Sapphire began murmuring her own spell. She held her hands out toward Cen and Estel, and a flicker of gold showed around them as Protect closed over them, shielding them from Marilith's fiery swords. A blade, bounced off Estel's saber, struck Cen in the side, but it just ricocheted away again, knocking Cen down but not cutting him. He rolled out of the way as Marilith brought all her blades whistling down toward him; they missed him by an inch. Cen jumped to his feet and charged again. Marilith grinned a snake-like grin, tongue darting out to lick her lips.
"Very good. I can tell you spend a lot of time practicing with your weapon."
Cen did not dignify this with an answer.
Rath, a chill blue glow around him, parted his hands and thrust them outward; shards of ice shot from the air in front of him and flew like arrows across the chamber. They slammed and tore into Marilith's side, ripping through her scales and drawing boiling blood. Marilith shrieked and writhed, the temperature shooting upward, and she spun her arms out like a windmill, knocking Cen and Estel away with all her force before they could attack her when vulnerable. They struck the walls, Estel curling up as he fell, but Cen landed on his leg and, with a crunch, it broke. He cried out as he collapsed. Marilith advanced on him, blood dribbling from the gashes in her side and tail.
"That's all it takes to stop you? How disappointing. Come on, let's have some more fun. You can't die yet!"
She scooped him up on the flats of her three widest blades, then her eyes flared red and the blades began to glow almost white with heat. It baked through all the protective layers and right to Cen's skin, and he screamed in pain. In desperation, he flung himself off the swords and fell to the ground with a crash. His armor glowed dull red. Marilith shrieked with delighted laughter.
"Much better! I knew I could make you scream! Let's—"
She broke off with a hiss as Estel ran at her from behind and slashed at her back. She whirled around, knocking him away with the flat of a blade, then followed him to where he fell and rose again, ready to defend himself. Her blades flickered and danced, and he darted before her, parrying and dodging, sweat dripping down his face.
With Marilith occupied, Rath crossed the chamber to where Cen lay, and a wave of cold preceded him, cooling Cen's armor. Sapphire, eyes darting from Estel to Cen and back, ceased casting Protect, ran to Cen, and knelt at his side. Strong blue-green light flowed from her hands and over him; his burns and broken leg healed in seconds, and Rath and Sapphire hauled him to his feet.
Marilith knocked Estel back with the flat of a blade again, and he tumbled as he hit the ground. And as he scrambled to his feet, Marilith drove one of her swords into his stomach; it punched out through his back, impaling him. His eyes widened in a look of surprise. Marilith's mouth twisted into a cruel smile.
"I knew you weren't as good as your friend there; I knew you'd die too soon to be much fun. Such a shame."
She jerked the sword free. Estel stumbled forward a step, blood pouring from the ragged wounds and down his legs. He remained upright for a moment, then he crumpled to the ground. Marilith turned her back on him.
Sapphire saw all this, her eyes wide with horror, and as she watched Estel fall, her hands flew up, shaking, to clutch her face, and she screamed.
"NO! No, no, no, no, no!"
She ran toward him, but Marilith slithered out to block her path, swords ready. One blade swung down, swatting Sapphire aside with the flat edge. She landed in a heap, crying and barely steady enough to try to regain her feet. Marilith slid after her, but before she could attack again, Rath intervened. Muttering rapidly, he swung his arm back and threw a bright orb of blue light as though he was pitching a ball. The orb zoomed through the air and exploded in Marilith's face in a burst of stars, sparks, and fluttering shapes. Marilith reared back high on her tail with a screech, flailing and swatting at the shapes around her head. Her eyes went glassy and wide, and in her confusion, she sliced into herself with her own swords.
Rath rushed over to Sapphire and jerked her to her feet.
"Go to him," he snapped, pushing her toward Estel's form. "Go!"
She went.
Cen started to run toward Estel as well, but Rath grabbed him and held him back.
"No. We have another task." He gestured to Cen's sword. "Hold out the blade."
Sapphire fell to her knees by Estel's body. She pushed his hair out of his eyes and cupped his face in her hands.
"Estel? Estel!"
His eyes, growing glassy, went to her. She sighed, almost sobbing, pressed her hands over the horrible gash in his stomach, and began a spell. The healing light flowed.
Marilith, swords fallen, writhed in a ball across the ground, trapped in the throes of Rath's spell. She struck a wall, and the impact knocked her from her trance; she uncurled and straightened, furious and breathing hard. She scooped up her swords and twisted around toward Cen and Rath, raising the blades for a whirlwind strike, but stopped as she saw what they were doing: Rath, murmuring a spell, pressed his fingertips against the blade of Cen's sword. Instead of attacking, Marilith lowered her swords and shrieked with laughter.
"Ooh, now that is fun! I didn't know things went like that! Don't mind me, you two go ahead and finish; I'll just wait here and watch!"
Cen snarled and had to bite his tongue to keep from bellowing insults at her, and Rath's hands half-clenched convulsively as anger flared in his eyes. He finished his spell, the blade glowing a crystalline blue, and stepped away.
"I think," he said through clenched teeth, "a certain degree of overkill is needed."
Not needing to be told again, Cen turned and charged, and Marilith's fiery swords met with his icy one in a shower of sparks. Marilith's peals of laughter did not stop.
"Good! Good! Now let's really see what you can do with that sword of yours!"
Blades swung and flew and danced, bursts of heat and cold exploding through the air, and now Cen gave no ground to the slithering Fiend. They fought at a stand-still, and their swords swung with such speed that they looked like little more than gleaming blurs.
Then Marilith reared back, howling, as a throwing knife embedded itself in her shoulder. She whirled around and saw Estel, whole and well, propped up with Sapphire beside him and another knife ready in hand. Marilith lunged at them, one blade smashing Sapphire away and another swinging back to sweep Estel's head from his shoulders. But before the blow could fall, Marilith jerked to a halt, the look of surprise on her face now, and she looked down to see the tip of a mythril sword protruding from between her breasts.
Cen, standing on the small of her back, hooked his free arm around her neck and squeezed hard, making her cough.
"Say 'hi' to Lich for us."
He released her neck and twisted the sword.
The infused spell sprang to life, and spears of ice sprouted from the blade, shredding Marilith's torso. Marilith writhed, howling and clawing at her back to dislodge the sword even as she was torn asunder. With a last echoing, horrible wail, Marilith shattered completely, bursting into a million bits of ash and flame.
The temperature of the chamber dropped at once.
Cen clambered to his feet, brushing Marilith's remains off him. He retrieved his sword and returned it to its scabbard.
"Everyone okay?" he asked, looking around. "Estel?"
Estel, stumbling upright as well, looked up, grinned, and flashed a victory sign at Cen. Then he nearly toppled back over as Sapphire all but flew across the cavern and flung her arms around him. Estel yelped and staggered backward a few steps.
"Saph—!"
"Oh, you scared me so much!" Sapphire sounded almost in tears. "Don't you ever let anything like that happen ever again!"
Estel stared down at her with round eyes, then, unable to help himself, he grinned and embraced her.
"Hey, don't be upset. I promised everything'd be okay this time, didn't I?"
Cen watched this with amusement, but Rath interrupted by clearing his throat.
"Need I remind you…?" He gestured toward the Crystal.
"Oh." Cen blinked. "Oh, right." He reached down and began fumbling with his knife scabbard, trying to extract the shard from it.
Sapphire's grip on Estel eased somewhat, but she did not release him. She sniffed, trying to rub away the few tears that had escaped.
"That…that…" She scowled. "That was so stupid! She was stupid! None of what she said made sense, and why did she keep talking about swords so much? It was all just…" Her scowl deepened, and she shook her head and buried her face against Estel's shoulder. "It was stupid."
The three men paused and exchanged looks.
"Yeah," Estel said, finally breaking the silence. "Yeah, Saph, that was stupid."
"Completely stupid," Cen agreed, nodding. "I didn't get any of it either."
"Ridiculous," Rath said, his tone perfectly level and calm. "So much so, in fact, that I believe it would be to our great benefit if we never spoke of it again."
Cen and Estel both offered very vociferous agreements to this.
"Okay," Cen said, getting ahead of a potential awkward pause. "Crystal time."
He removed the shard from its little scabbard and went over to the tall Crystal in the center of the room. He only had to search for a few seconds until he found the chink, and, with a glassy scraping sound, he slid the shard into place.
Inside the Crystal, a bright red light suddenly blazed, pulsating brighter and brighter; with a final, blinding flash, the mended Crystal lit completely, flooding the room with blood-colored light that flickered like a blaze of flame. A flash of light came from the crater below, and a smaller, glowing replica of the Crystal flew out to hover before Cen. He took it, and a moment later, the companions vanished from the cavern.
When they reappeared outside, it was snowing.