Chapter Four: The Burning Mountain of Fire
For several days, Hersuticus travelled through many foreign lands and on his ventures met several people, but none spoke much, if any, of his language. Finally, he came to an ocean boarder on the edge of what is now Russia and could go no further. Calling Ertha back into the ring, she dissapeared in a flurry of flower petals. Rubbing the ring, Hersuticus summoned Ambu and mounted her.
"To the land where the Burning Mountain of Fire is." Ambu thought for a while, and then galloped across the sea as fast as she could. It took two days to cross the wild oceans and arrive on a hot exotic island. Upon his arrival, Hersuticus saw in the middle of the island was a large volcano, and the forests seemed uninhabbited. Ambu could go no further due to the heat, and Hersuticus used his ring to send Ambu away and tried to summon Ertha, but she would not come.
"This must be too close to its kin. I will have to find my way there myself," Hersuticus said, and began his trudge through the jungle. The heat and moisture was almost unbearable, but he saw the many trees were covered with wild fruits, and eating one was enough to satisy his thirst.
Hersuticus continued his journey into the jungle, and he saw that the many animals he came across, fierce or gentle, simply turned and left him alone.
Finally, he came to the base of the volcano after a days travel. Looking up, he saw that the middle of the volcano had many cave entries. Some of them were easy to reach, but others were nearly impossible to scale. Hersuticus began searching in the caves as he began to climb. Some of the caves appeared to be rooms while others were places like a kitchen, a bathroom or other household places, none of which you'd find in the middle of a volcano base.
Finally, Hersuticus came to what was clearly a throne room. The throne was made of stones and gems, all of which sparkled in the lights of the room. The room had many piles of gold and jewelsin the corners, and in fornt of the throne was a small alter where there were some stones placed and some space for the ring. Placing the ring on the alter, Hersuticus waited, but nothing happened. He placed some silver and gold coins upon it as well, but there was still nothing.
"What are you doing?" a voice asked. Hersuticus turned around to see two children standing in the entry of the cave.
"I think he's trying to summon Dad," one of the children, a girl, said.
"But he needs to ask us," the other, a young boy, replied.
"Pardon me children, but would you mind helping?" Hersuticus asked.
"Of course. You should have asked earlier," the little girl said.
"But I didn't see you earlier," Hersuticus replied.
"That's because you weren't paying attention. You walked right past us," the girl explained. She and her brother stepped forward and moved the stones on the alter around. A pattern appeared on each of the stones, and they suddenly burst into flames, and a jet of fire spiraled to the throne, forming into the shape of a man.
"Thank you children, you may go and play," the Emperor said, waving his hand. He was dressed like a traditional king, wearing red robes and a purple mantle, In one hand he had a sceptre that was long enough to be a walking cane, with a large jasper ball at the top. His crown of gold was pointed and shaped in such a style it looked like a crown of fire, and the Emperor himself looked rather youthful, his young face framed with dark brown hair.
"Greetings Emperor, I am Hersuticus. I have come in search of the wild horse of fire." Hersuticus bowed deeply.
"Greetings Hersuticus, my wife informed me of your arrival. You have done well to arrive here and to seek out the horses. Just remember that only you can capture the horse of fire and that the others will not aid you. However, this task will be somewhat easier and harder than the other two horses." The Emperor pointed his sceptre to a far wall and a spark shot at it. A symbol appeared on the wall and a door outlined itself. "The horse is here every day, and when you are rested, you can go forth and seek the horse in the volcano itself. It will leave the volcano at sundown and return tomorrow." The Emeror scooped up the coins Hersuticus had left and disappeared. At that moment, the children returned.
"We'll show you to your room if you'd like," the girl said.
"Thank you. Since your Father is the Emperor, you two must be a prince and a princess. What are your names?"
"I am Princess Cancerian," The girl replied.
"And I am Prince Capricorn," The boy replied.
"And I am Prince Hersuticus," he introduced. "What odd names you have."
"We guard the upper and lower realms of the earth," the children answered.
"I don't understand," Hersuticus answered.
"Well, there are two parts of the world, and each one has a specific tropic. I guard the top and my brother guards the bottom." Princess Cancerian saw that Hersuticus was still somewhat confused. "Do not worry, we will take you to your room and then you can rest."
Sure enough, Hersuticus rested well and slept through the night, Cancerian and Capricorn looking after him as best they could. They talked many hours of the different things they knew of the world and what they wanted to do.
The next day, Hersuticus approached the magical door the Emeror had made, Turning the handle, he was hit with a burst of heat, but he bravely continued. Inside, he could see a path deep into the volcano that was lit with torches, and in the distance was a bright light. When he reached the end of the tunnel, Hersuticus could see way below a pit of molten lava, and above him, grazing on some coals, was the horse of fire. It was more beautiful than Hersuticus could have dreamed. Its mane and tail were made of fire, and across its deep orange body were red markings that looked like fire. The horse looked up instantly and saw him. Not being bothered, it returned to its grazing. Hersuticus could see why, as the path he had been following ended and he would have to climb up to the ledge to even attempt a capture. Looking carefully, Hersuticus started to find a path across the walls to the horse. Sure enough, he spotted one and began climbing. The heat from the lava below was extreme and the sweat pouring off his body was enough to make it difficult to grip the rocks.
After many slips and slides, Hersuticus finally made it to the ledge the fire horse was at. The horse gave him a distainful look.
"You are used to this aren't you?" Hersuticus asked. The horse made no mavement. Hersuticus waited a moment, then jumped, clinging to the horse and pulling himself onto the horses back, he waited for it to start running, but then realised that he was even hotter than he had been the whole exploit to where he was. Finally the horse, discovering the heat of its body wouldn't put him off, it reared and charged down the side of the volcano and started to gallop for the lava. Hersuticus clung for dear life, though he couldn't breathe from the fumes and the extreme heat. Each breath he took seemed to set his lungs a-blaze with pain, and all he could do was grip on as the horse rode the length of the pit. While the spray of lava did not touch Hersuticus, he felt extreme pain as the horses body became hotter than before.
Finally, the horse had finished its run across the lava and ran up the far wall. As the distance became more and more, Hersuticus found his breathing returning to a slightly normal pace and less painful. The horse reached the top of the volcano and jumped. Hersuticus almost fell off in panic when he saw where they were headed. The horse was charging straight at the sun. The heat and the brightness made Hersuticus close his eyes and hope that he did not slip. This must have been the point of death for anyone who had survived the earlier test. The fire horse reached a certain height then turned and started to fly back towards earth at an alarming rate. The heat from that was even more intense as it picked up speed. Hersuticus was nearly unconcious from the extreme heat. As the earth came plummiting towards him, Hersuticus waited for the sharp impact. The fire horse, however, managed to pull up and start running quickly. As it went through the jungle it left a trail of fire behind it, but the refreshing breeze cooled Hersuticus down. Finally, the horse stopped at the entrance of the Emperor's throne room, where he stood waiting. Hersuticus dismounted the horse, then colappsed to the ground. His body was covered in blisters, boils and burns. The Emperor touched him with the tip of his amber sphere and Hersuticus felt a cool sensation wash over him as his body recovered through the magic
"Well done, you have tammed the most dangerous of the wild horses; Aedus. You should be very proud," the Emperor mused. "The fire horse can travel through any sort of weather and keep you warm or cool, depending. You will also find that the fire horse has an unbelievable amount of magic, and is the best horse for leading you into battle. But be careful not to ride him all day, for he needs to come to the volcano every day while the sun shines to feed on the coals here, lest he lose his abilities. So I highly recommend calling upon him when necessary. Go now and rest while the horse returns to its grazing through the magic of your ring." Hersuticus, stanidng with a bit of a wobble, pressed the ring to the horses forehead and it disappeared in a burst of flame. He then presented the Emeror with a handful of gold coins, but he refused them. "I have the hoard of a dragon, what use is a few extra gold pieces. You will need to offer something better." Hersuticus pondered for a moment and then took form his bag a small staff.
"This staff is made of wood that grows deep in my country and nowhere else. While I have used it to build fires, I think your majesty would find it more a prize than anything else," Hersuticus explained, offering it.
"Indeed I will. Go and rest, and thank you," the Emperor said, disappearing in a flash of fire. With joy in his heart and a weary head, Hersuticus walked to his room ad fell instantly asleep on the bed.
When Hersuticus awoke up the next morning, Capricorn and Cancerian had made him something to eat and Hersuticus ate with a great appetite.
"Our Father has told us to tell you where to find the last horse," Cancerian said as Hersuticus ate.
"Thank you," Hersuticus said as he took a draught of his juice.
"You will need to travel south to the great land of ice. Be careful there, for few men have travelled there and no one has mapped that part of the world yet." Capricorn expressed concern in his explanation. "The fire horse will definately help you get there, but he needs to be sent back here every day, so there is a chance you may not survive. Promise you will be careful."
"I will," Hersuticus said. As Hersuticus finished eating and got ready to go, be gifted the children with some gold coins each, which they accepted. Summoning Ertha, he began his journey south, having high hopes in his heart for his last effort to capture the last wild horse.
A/N: This chapter is inspired by 'The Emperor' Tarot card. Most Fatherly and guardian of the home. Strong, determined, focused and aware of what his children are about, he was the best symbol for this chapter, as I hope I have shown.