Disclaimer: Okay I did this thing at the first chapter so you can go to the first chapter if you really want to read it. I would like to remind everybody that this story is dedicated to mandycroyance. She writes some and is really good so go there and check it out. Anyway this is the seventh chapter so enjoy.

Fire's Heat

*Sora*

            I looked around the table that I sat at. Matt, Takeru, Tai, Kari, Joe, Mimi, and Izzy were all sitting around the table and looking at a map of the world that covered most of the huge table. Joe stood up and pointed at one point of the map with the tip of his sword.

"We've already sent out riders to the forts here, here, and here." Joe pointed at three different places on the map. "But the demon commander has placed a good sized force in-between us and our largest fort. We tried to send riders but only one managed to get back here alive."

"So what can we do?" Asked Matt rubbing his eyes and sitting back into his chair.

"I wouldn't normally advise this but I think that we may be able to send a small group of soldiers through the Mt. Golug pass." Said Joe pointing at another part of the map.

"You mean the volcano?" I asked.

"Yes, there is a path that leads through the volcano that I'm pretty sure whoever this general is won't know about. However the group would have to pass near the enemy and then there of course is whatever is in the volcano."  A deep silence fell over the group and I looked over the people around the table.

"I'll do it." I said standing up. Every started to talk at once. I was expecting the frenzy of protests but I wasn't going to just sit around and take it. I put my fingers into my mouth and whistled. When they had quieted down enough for me to talk I continued. "I'm going."

"We need you here." Said Matt.

"Why? One extra soldier isn't going to mean much when we get in a huge melee. However it's just one on one out in the wilderness, and I'm a better fighter than almost every soldier in the castle." Matt rubbed his forehead and sighed. I was sorry that I was making Matt's job any harder than it was already but sometimes things needed to me done.

"Okay, but your taking a few soldiers with you at least." He finally said.

"Fine."

"I don't have to tell you how much trouble we're in, but look after yourself and hurry, please."

"No problem. You know me." I stood and started to walk out of the room. I could barley hear Matt's mumble.

"That's the problem."

*Tai*

I adjusted the rough strapped of the leather backpack that rested on my back. A spear rested against the wall beside me.  A newly acquired short sword rested on my hip. I glanced over at Sora. She was standing near the drawbridge talking and laughing with Mandy and Mimi. Matt had made Sora take at least four other soldiers with her and Mandy, Mimi, Izzy, and me had volunteered. They were all wearing identical backpacks like mine, plus Mandy and Sora both had short bows and quivers lashed to their backpacks along with their normal weapons.

"The three of them are together. That can't be good." Said Izzy walking up beside me. He was carrying an identical backpack except he had his hammer lashed across the back of the pack.

"No, but what are you going to do. Sora and Mimi could kick the crap out of both of us." Izzy laughed. Sora looked over at Izzy and me.

"You two ready to go?"

"A near suicidal mission. Which includes but is not limited to a run past a paranoid army and a walk through a still active volcano. You couldn't keep me away." I said sarcastically walking up to Sora with Izzy beside him. Sora reached up and hit me affectionately on the back of my head.

"Remember you volunteered for this."

"Would I have had a choice?" Sora laughed and moved so close that her body was pressing against mine. She stood up and kissed me fully on the mouth. Her tongue briefly entered my mouth and I could feel the fireworks dancing in my head. She pulled away from me and looked up into my eyes slyly. I looked at Sora and I knew that she had me caught.

"No." Said Sora.

"Fine I guess I could go."

I scanned the darkness around me in search of any enemies. Our small group had been walking for nearly two days now and we figured that we were somewhere close to where the demon's army was. My spear rested loosely in my hands as I moved quietly through the trees.

The rancid smell of rotten flesh hit my nose and I stopped in mid step. Three zombies and a troll walked through the low foliage. Their clawed fingers all dripped with blood and the troll had five human heads on the end of its spear. The smell was coming from the heads, which were already starting to rot even though blood still dripped from the severed necks.

I slid into the shadows beside the tree and angled my spear at the monsters. It really didn't want a fight because if one of them got away then they would bring down the whole army onto our group. The group moved close enough that I could have reached out and touched them with my hands if I had wanted to. I breathed in relief as the four moved past me without seeing me. The troll suddenly stopped and I could hear as it sniffed the air. I raised my spear slowly above my shoulder so that I could throw it if I had to.

The troll roared and turned towards me and I let the spear go with as much force as I could muster in my arms. The troll grabbed one of the zombies and shoved it in front of the flying weapon. The zombie didn't even notice the spear shove half its length through its chest. I yanked his short sword out of its scabbard and ran forward at the group of monsters. The sharp blade of the short sword sliced through one zombie's head but the zombie's long arms still reached forward to try to disembowel me. I stumbled backwards to get away from the claws and yanked my sword out of its head. I slashed again and this time the zombie's hands fell to the ground.

I backpedaled to get away from the monsters and the three zombies kept coming even though two of them were wounded. My hand shot out and grabbed the shaft of my spear and pulled it out of the zombie's chest along with part of its ribcage. Air whistled around the wooden shaft as I swung the spear low to the ground. One zombie's legs were blasted out from underneath it when the blade passed through its knees.

Pain exploded through my head as something hit me in the back and knocked me to the ground. I used the momentum of the blow to roll away from whatever had been attacking me. I came up with my spear in one hand and my short sword in the other and saw the troll standing where I had been with fresh blood dripping from its claws. The warm trickle of blood made its way down my neck.

The last surviving zombie that could walk shambled towards but four quick slashes took off its arms and legs. The troll leveled its spear at me and charged. I rolled to the side and my short sword slashed through the muscles in the back of the troll's leg. It went down with a roar as one of its legs stopped working. I stood to my feet and sheathed my short sword in one fluid movement.

The troll had pulled something out of a pouch that hung around its neck and I could see that it was holding three small pebbles. It yelled something in a language that I didn't know and threw the pebbles into the air. Three balls of bright red light burst from the pebbles spiraled up into the sky.

"Crap." I left the troll wounded and ran back towards our group's camp. The troll would tell that I had been in the area but dead bodies would do the same thing and we didn't have time to waste. I stumbled into the clearing where the others in the group slept. The group was already up and strapping their weapons on. The light illuminated the strained looks on their upturned faces.

"What happened Tai?" Asked Mandy.

"A troll found us and used some enchanted pebbles to throw the light into the air." I said quickly grabbing my own backpack and slinging it over my shoulder. Mandy and Sora quickly strung their bows and fit arrows onto the strings.

"To the volcano." Said Sora. We all nodded and ran in the direction we had been walking for the past two days. Bushes tried to grab my legs and low branches drew long cuts across my face as we ran. Blood slowly trickled down my face and stained the collar of my shirt.

A high-pitched shriek shattered the silence of the night and a chazem dove through the canopy of the forest with its hooked claws ready to strike. Mandy and Sora were faster however and two arrows knocked the flying demon from the sky and to the ground. Green blood flew from its body as it thrashed in its death movements. More screeches rang through the air as five more of the flying demons dove through the canopy.

Two hooked claws slashed at my face. I dove to the ground and jammed my spear up into the demon's chest. The chazem barely seemed to notice the four inches of steel in its chest and encircled me with its long arms. It opened its mouth to reveal two rows of teeth as sharp as the spear I had shoved into it. I drew my short sword and shoved the length of the blade down its throat. Green blood spewed over me and I pulled my spear and sword out as the dying demon fell away from me.

I looked over the rest of the battlefield and saw all my friends except for Sora were all ready done with their fights. As I watched Sora slid her rapier through the demons chest. We turned and started to run again without even bothering to sheath our weapons.

We could hear the screams from more monsters close behind and tried to run faster. My breath came in quick and raged gasps and I could feel my legs getting slower as I got tired. The side of the volcano loomed close as we burst out of the foliage. The cave entrance was a dark hole against the side of the mountain and we stumbled into the cave. Mimi turned and stood with her staff in a defensive position as Sora and Mandy fitted arrows onto their bows. Izzy and I moved over to the large round stone that was near the entrance. We both leaned against the stone and pushed. Muscles stood out in sharp relief on both of our bodies as we pushed against the huge stone. The stone didn't even budge an inch.

A black tide of enemies poured out of the forest and ran up towards the cave. Mandy and Sora fired, aiming at the more vulnerable trolls and leaving the zombies for Mimi.  The first zombie that made it to the entrance was met by the iron cap at the end of Mimi's staff and was sent flying back into the crowd.  Mimi kept swinging, her next hits being similarly effective.

"Get back." Yelled Izzy. He drew his hammer and I went forward to help Mimi protect the entrance. A loud crack filled the air as Izzy slammed his hammer into the stone.  My spear joined Mimi's dance and the zombies ripped themselves to pieces trying to get at us. Mandy and Sora had run out of arrows and had drawn their swords to come and help Mimi and me. Our weapons tore apart the enemies but there were too many to hold against and we were pushed back into the cave.

"When I tell you to, dive back." yelled Izzy over the noise of battle. The hammer slammed into stone several more times.

"Go." We turned and dived back into the cave as Izzy drove the hammer one last time into the slab of stone. The slab crashed into place across the entrance and crushed the few zombies that had tried to get through after us.

**Sora**

            Darkness fell over the cave as the stone slammed into place. Small stones scratched my arm and shoulder as I slid across the rock covered ground of the cave. I spread my arms out to slow my slide and managed to catch a rock and stop myself. Pain flared through the cuts on my arms and I touched them gently with the fingers on my other hand. I could feel the blood dripping from multiple cuts but it didn't seem bad enough to slow me down. I stood slowly to my feet.

The only light in the cave was the soft blue glow that was coming from Mandy's enchanted sword. I pulled a torch and a striker from my backpack. It took a few tries to get the torch to light, but when it did orange light spilled across the cave. I saw rocks had crushed our bows so that they were only a pile of splinters on the cave floor. The light illuminated Izzy beside the broken stone of the doorway. Blood flowed down his arms from rock shards that had slashed his arms when he had hit the rock slab. Mimi, Mandy, and Tai were still sprawled on the ground. I wedged the torch in-between two rocks and reached back into my pack for medical supplies.

"Is everyone all right?" I asked.

"Muscles I didn't even know I had hurt." Said Tai climbing slowly to his feet. I pulled out a clay container and a bundle of clean rags.

"Come here Tai. Those face and head wounds need to be looked at and since no real healer is here I'm going to have to do it." Tai sat down on a rock and stuck my fingers into the clay container. The balm inside was made to help battle infection and had a slightly greasy feel to it. I spread the balm on Tai's face and he hissed slightly in pain.

"The stuff burns." Complained Tai.

"Oh shut up. You've had worse." I bent Tai's head down and looked at the wound on his head. The wound wasn't too bad though it was covered with an ugly looking scab. I cleaned it quickly and wrapped it clumsily with the bandages.

"Thanks." Said Tai standing up and picking up his spear again. Mimi spreading her own balm onto Izzy's arms and Izzy was wincing slightly from the burning sensation that the balm made.

"Joe said that we should go left after we made it to the cave." Said Mandy sheathing her sword, extinguishing its blue glow.

"Let's go then. Matt doesn't have a lot of time." I made some mental calculations in my mind. Even if we reached the fort quickly we still probably couldn't get the force there fast enough to be there at the beginning of the fight, but anything could help. The other four nodded and climbed wearily to their feet. The darkness around us never changed as we made our way through the never ending tunnels. Just miles of black tunnels and uneven rocks, but Joe's directions were very good.

An uncomfortable feeling grew in my mind as we walked through the tunnels. It was like something that you could see out of the corner of your eyes but when you turned to see it nothing was there. We passed by another tunnel and I stopped all together. The feeling had turned into a full compulsion and I could feel that whatever the feeling was coming from was down the corridor. A soft orange glow was coming from down the corridor. I looked around and saw that Tai was standing beside me with the same confused expression, as I was sure I had on. The other three were standing at the edge of the light cast by my torch and staring at us.

"I thought we didn't have any time?" Asked Mimi.

"I felt something." Said Tai turning to the corridor.

"What?" Asked Izzy.

"I don't know but it feels important." Tai walked down the corridor. I knew that I should turn him around and go with the directions that Joe had given us but I wanted to see what was down the corridor. The other three in our party followed us down the corridor. The light grew brighter as we walked down the tunnel. We turned a corner and came out into a huge corridor. Sluggish rivers of lava worked its way along the floor and lit the entire room with a bright orange glow. There was a large hole in the ceiling and a strong breeze was blowing through it. Two stone pillars stuck up from in front of the lava and a necklace hung on each of them. One had a black talon hung on the chain and the other had a green feather. Tai and I crept forward in an almost dream state, everything except for the necklaces seemed to be covered in a mist.

"Sora, Tai this isn't a good idea." Said Mandy. Her hand clutched at the hand of her sword so hard that her knuckles were white from the strain. I could hear her but the words barely registered in my brain. I reached forward and slid the necklace off the rock. I had the slight impression of Tai doing the same thing next to me. The necklace felt slightly warm in my hands. I was jolted out of my thoughts when the floor started to shake. The lava started to bubble and bulge slightly. A stone head broke out of the lava and looked slowly around the room.

"I agree with Mandy." Said Mimi backing up. The rest of the monster came up out of the lava and stepped onto the stone floor. The monster's skin was black obsidian and red-hot lava burned where the monster's joints were. Stone turned to molten rock where ever the monster stepped.

"It's a golem." Said Izzy. The golem roared and swept one arm in front of him. The heavy limb knocked the two stone pillars into gravel.

"Sub zero strike." Yelled Mandy. Her sword glowed blue and a blast of ice flew out off of the blade. The ice melted before it even reached the golem and disappeared into a cloud of water vapor. Tai charged behind the ice and stabbed his spear up at the golem's chest. The spear point clicked against the stone but did no more than take out a small chip of stone. The golem grabbed the spear and the wooden haft exploded into flames. Tai dropped the worthless weapon and backed away from the deadly enemy.

The golem swung his arms again and we all had to scramble out of the way to avoid being crushed. Stone crashed against stone and the golem's blow tore large chunks out of the wall.

"Earthquake." The golem's voice sounded like rocks being grated together. It slammed both fists into the ground. Cracks radiated out from the blow towards Izzy, Mimi and Mandy. The rocks underneath them crumbled and they all disappeared underneath the crumbling rocks. I ran towards the broken rocks but I had to dive to the ground as the golem swung another heavy fist.

"Come on, Sora." Said Tai grabbing my arm and pulling me to my feet.

"But."

"We can't do anything for them." Tears stung my eyes but I turned and ran towards the tunnel that we had entered in. The golem picked up a boulder and threw it at us. We both dove to the side. The boulder flew close enough that I could feel the wind from its passage and slammed into the tunnel we had been running towards. The golem stepped forward and swung one huge hand down at me. I crossed my arms over my face even though I knew it wouldn't do any good.

**Tai**

I saw the fist descending towards Sora but I couldn't do anything. I ran forward and I could feel my necklace glowing hotter. Flames started to gather around one of my hands and I drew back that hand like I would throw a punch. I punched forward and the flames leapt from my hands towards the golem. The blow caught it in the chest and threw the heavy monster like it was nothing more than a rag doll. The sound of the golem hitting the wall thundered through the cavern.

Flames wrapped around my body enclosing me in a cocoon of heat. The flames hardened and then disappeared. In the flames place was armor made of scales that was the same deep red of the flames that had surrounded my body only seconds before. Black spiked gauntlets adorned my hands and deep black boots with a spike sticking out of the toe were on my feet. Blue flames had taken the place of my hair and danced along my head.

"Sora get out of the way." I said. Sora stood to her feet and scrambled out of the way. The golem pushed off from the wall and charged straight at me leading with one of its fists. I put my hands in front of me and caught the golem's punch. My feet sunk into the ground from the force of the blow but I didn't move an inch. I jumped onto the golem's arm and ran up it. Punches and kicks rained down on the golem's head, tearing of chunks of the rock armor. The golem reached its other arm around to try and grab me but I jumped and landed onto its head.

"Magma punch." Fire gathered around my hand and I slammed it into the top of the golem's head. The stone skull shattered and my hand drove deep into its head. I jumped from the dying monster and it crashed to the ground, molten rock dripping from the wound and hardening on the ground. The armor disappeared in a flash of fire and I slumped wearily to the ground. I felt as if I had just fought an entire army entirely by myself and then cleaned up the whole battlefield. I felt a thin arm wrap around my shoulder and looked up. Sora hugged me close.

"Do you know what happened to . everyone else." I couldn't bear to say their names.

"No." Said Sora.

"We need to keep going to the fort." I looked up at Sora shocked. Her face was hard but I could see the tears in her eyes as she said those words. I was just glad it wasn't me that had to make those kinds of decisions.

End Note: Okay I know it took me a long time to get this one out but I hope that it was good. I hope to get the next chapters out much quicker than I did this one.