The thing I liked most about Draconia was how easy it was to determine where one territory began and another ended. Boundaries were always clear cut, and the border between the desert and the volcanic section of the Wastelands was no exception. The sand suddenly halted and a path made of dark red and black stone paved the way into the volcanic area known as the Magmanian Wastes. Ryth, Rona, and I followed the path up into the volcanic fields, and at the top of the path was a horizon of mountains that have yet to blow their tops and volcanoes that ran with liquid magma. I had through that the shifting sands were bad, but it appeared as though this entire volcanic field were made from several eruptions beneath the ground. The ground we stood on was very unstable and could possibly break under our weight. Rona pointed at a distant object.
"That, there, is the largest volcano in the area: the Kesu Rim," he pointed out. "If you thought the desert was bad… This region will remain the worst in Draconia. We have to cross these unstable volcanic fields to get to the Kesu Rim. I hope you're light on your feet."
I looked down at my feet. "I sure hope so…"
"Beware of erupting magma geysers, and some of the volcanoes in the area are known to blow their tops frequently. Watch the sky for falling debris."
"Hope you know how to keep your 'cool,' Cryos," Ryth joked.
Ryth and I followed Rona onto the volcanic field. Several holes were spread throughout the area where magma constantly spewed into the air. Many cracks ran through this ground where hot steam would sometimes escape from the ground below. I imagined that any sudden pressure or even a rock falling from the sky would shatter the earth beneath us and lead us all to a fiery death. As those thoughts crossed my mind, I could not help but slow my steps and act more carefully.
Rona turned around and gave me a look. "Why the hesitation?" he asked. "Keep up!"
"I'm sorry…" I mumbled. "I feel uneasy. I have this bad feeling that things are about to get bad." As though triggered by what I said, a distant explosion marked the eruption of not one of the volcanoes, but two. From the top of the Kesu Rim, a large spherical light rose up like a distant eye to watch us suffer. Rona looked to the sky. Ryth looked to the ground.
"Uh… Rona?" Ryth asked. "Something tells me we should run… Now." He pointed at the ground. The labyrinth of cracks in the ground began to split apart beneath our feet. This I knew because the magma underneath was starting to be revealed. Ryth and Rona ran off while I was watching the cracks, so I was already behind. I leapt off the ground where I stood and took flight along the ground. I dodged the cracks that were splitting open and reached for solid footholds. Many times I looked down and watched my feet; my feet only deepened the cracks that were appearing.
I sped up when a sickening crunch and a liquid splash sounded behind me. My instinct told me that the ground was collapsing just behind. Just ahead, Ryth and Rona had stopped running. Perhaps they had found stable ground! They were hurrying me as the ground gave way at my heels. When I was close enough to Ryth and Rona, I dove from the ground to where they stood. I landed hard on my stomach and winced in pain. I rolled over slowly to survey how close I was: the ground was gone with no means of return.
"That was too close," Ryth said.
"You're telling me!" I shouted while huffing and puffing. "I almost died a painful death…"
"Any closer, and my tail would've been cooked," Rona said. Ryth and I both looked at him and laughed. "What?"
"That doesn't sound like something you'd say," I pointed out. "You've been around Ryth too long." Rona tried not to smile and went off ahead. Ryth helped me up and we both followed.
Rona led us through a short pass between two mountains. On the other side were a great number of wooden sticks poking out of the ground. To me, they were unimportant, but Ryth and Rona became very quiet. Among these sticks was a single larger one that rose up higher than all of the others. This one had branches, though it was as dead as the others. A single brown leaf waved in the wind near the top of the stick.
"Rona… What happened here?" I asked.
"Something tells me there used to be a forest here," Rona said, "but there is no longer. The volcanic activity must have been the end of it."
"I believe Kesu was the source," Ryth said. He held onto the single tree with his hand. "This forest was destroyed when Kesu came… He turned this mountain range into a deadly battery of volcanoes… A magma battery, if you will," he added.
"That has to mean that Kesu is somewhere near," I said.
"Yes," Rona replied. "His volcano is just beyond this scorched Wood."
"We have to do something about him…"
"That's what we're here for," Ryth mentioned.
"Let's go," Rona ordered. He led as we walked through the charred remains of the forest. Twigs snapped under our feet as we went. I actually wondered once how fox spirits could be so used to stepping on twigs with their bare feet. It would seem as though it came naturally to them…
I took up the rear, and many of the "trees" I touched snapped off easily. Many of the "trees" that Ryth touched swung back and hit me in the face. I was thankful to get out on the other side.
On the other end of the Wood, there was a tall rock wall shooting up into the sky. Lines of magma intertwined along the surface of the rocky wall. A twisting path ran up the side of the wall.
"This is the Kesu Rim," Rona said, "so named after Kesu. Inside is where the Fire Key has to be… This won't be an easy battle."
"I just had an idea," I said. "Perhaps we can sneak in and steal the Key? Maybe we can avoid this battle…"
"Kesu never sleeps… He remains awake, vigilant to be prepared for anything." Rona looked to the sky. "Once we're in, the battle has already begun."
"There's no way around it?" I asked in curiosity.
"I think that's what he just said," Ryth told me.
"When you're ready, we will head up into the Rim," Rona said. I nodded. I took a quick look around, drew a deep breath, let it out, and nodded again.
"I'm ready," I said. Rona did not say anything else, but he led Ryth and I up the path into the Kesu Rim.
The path was simple: it led around the side of the volcano, was about three feet wide, and was fairly safe for a volcanic path. It was long too. After going in circles for a few minutes, I had begun to hate the path.
The top of the Kesu Rim was just as circular as the path leading up to it. There was a wave of heat rising from the inside of the volcano. I had not been sweating before (due to my natural coldness), but this heat wave burned me enough to cause me to sweat. I looked down into the volcano, but could not see the bottom. Actually, the volcano looked empty. Another path much like the one before led down into the darkness.
"Rona, I can't see the bottom," I said.
"You won't until we get there," Rona said. "Kesu lives deep in the heart of this volcano… He knows we're coming, so the volcano shouldn't erupt now… Come, into the darkness." Rona again led us. I put my hand against the wall as a means to find my way in the darkness, but quickly pulled away. The walls were painfully hot. I slowly made my way downwards while clinging to Ryth's shoulders.
We went down through what must have been a hole. This I know because I hit my head on it as we went through. At the other end of the tunnel, there was an orange light. We stepped out into a large circular chamber with an edging that ran along the wall. In the center of the room was a large pit filled with magma. I heard a distant sound of movement below as I looked into the magma. Rona pulled me back.
"This is Kesu's chamber… You'll want to be careful around that pit," he told me. A bubbling noise could be heard in the magma below, and then a large bestial creature rose up from the fiery pit. It had an eye on its back and two deep red eyes on its head. Two horns sprouted from its head and crossed each other at the middle. I could see a tail wagging in the back behind the beast. It emitted a loud, rumbling growl. Then, a deep, dark voice was heard echoing throughout the chamber, though the beast never once opened its mouth.
"You are Heroes… I know why you are here," Kesu said (I guessed it was Kesu).
"Everybody seems to know what we're doing by now," I replied.
"You want my Fire Key… Do you have courage enough to possess it?"
"We came all the way here," Rona said. "That should be courage enough."
"I mean… Courage enough to slay a beast for it? I won't just hand it to you…"
"As Heroes, it seems our job is to kill you anyways," Ryth said. "So, let's get this over with."
"You are bold… And so am I." Kesu pulled up a single arm, revealing a multitude of claws. He swung his arm at us all. I jumped backwards away from it and Rona and Ryth teleported away. I looked up at Kesu: he was at least fifty times bigger than me. A feeling of helplessness surged through me. I almost dropped my sword, but Ryth snapped me out of it.
"Cryos! Wake up!" he shouted. "Distract him long enough for Rona and I to kill him!" I nodded and whistled at Kesu.
"Hey! Hey you!" I shouted. Kesu continued to glare at me. "I bet you can't catch me!" I ran to the right along the outer edge of the room. Kesu's gaze followed me, so I continued to run. My running stopped when Kesu threw down an arm in front of me. I turned and ran in the other direction, but he threw his other arm down as well. A few globs of magma flew into the air above Kesu's head. One by one they were launched at me. I dodged one and threw up a wall of ice. The second one, however, hit the ice wall and melted it instantly.
"Rona, do something!" I shouted. Kesu roared out in pain, and then magma balls were dropped. Kesu swung around and knocked me down with his arm. I stood back up and noticed that Ryth and Rona were taking turns stabbing into Kesu's eye.
"It seems that over the years, your eye has gone blind," I heard Rona shout. Kesu tried reaching back to swipe them off of his back, but was unable to reach. Rona plunged his sword into Kesu's eye all the way up to the hilt. Rona leapt off of Kesu's back, followed by Ryth. Kesu roared once more, and then sunk into the magma. Rona's sword flew up and landed in the ground at Rona's feet. Atop it was a small red orb. Rona took it and passed it to me.
"The Fire Key," he said.
"That was actually pretty easy," I said. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and the magma in the center pit started to rise. "Um… I think we should get out of here."
"Good idea," Ryth said and led us. Why he led us, I was not sure, but he was moving fast. We went back through the tunnel, the magma at our heels. We moved even faster as we climbed back to the surface.
At the top of the volcano, the magma slowed just a bit. This gave us all enough time to get down the mountain path and into the scorched forest before the magma started pouring down the side of the volcano. Ryth and Rona ran through the sticks quickly. I was rapidly approaching a taller stick, so I imagined I would jump over it. In the process, however, my leg was caught on it and a gash was torn in my leg. I dropped to the ground instantly and screamed in pain. Ryth and Rona both turned around. Rona noticed me and rushed to get to me. He lifted me in his arms and carried me off after Ryth. Oddly enough, I felt an aura of concern radiating from Rona. Did this mean that he had a heart after all?
Ryth and Rona came to a halt at the edge of the magma bed. There still was no way back across to the desert. The flow of magma behind us was also approaching at a quickening pace.
"Rona…" I huffed. "What're we going to do?"
"I don't think we can do much," Rona replied. I looked to the sky: it was dark with ash and smoke, but on the horizon, I could make out figures flying through the air. They were approaching us as a rapid pace. When they were closer, I could see that they were Angels!
"Angels!" I shouted and pointed to the sky. One was flying before the other two, and I took it that he was their leader. He landed first and approached us. He spoke quickly.
"Rysta saw that you three were in trouble! She sent us to help."
"Much appreciated," Rona said. He handed me to the first Angel. "He got injured in the run… He needs help."
"Right now, we need to get out of here," the Angel leader said. "We'll carry you three down to the edge of the Wastelands." The other two Angels flew into the air.
"Grab our ankles and we'll carry you," one of the other Angels said. "Hope you have a strong grip!" The Angel leader pushed off the ground and spread a pair of magnificent wings. He took me though the air and even shielded my eyes from the smoke. The other two Angels followed with Ryth and Rona. Together, we flew through the air away from the disaster that was the volcanic section of the Wastelands.
The Angels dropped us at the desert-Draconia boundary. I was set gently on the ground, where I winced in pain at my leg. The Angel leader held his hand on my wound and used a potent healing magic to fix me in a matter of seconds. It was so strong in fact that my leg went numb. The other two Angels dropped Ryth and Rona beside me.
"Thank you," Ryth said politely.
"Just another close one," Rona mumbled. "It's nothing now."
"You three just stay safe. Rysta says that the Water Key has been collected as well, so you should meet with the other Heroes in the Traveller's Waypoint… You know, the really small one in the middle of the Plains. Good luck, and Rysta watch over you." The three Angels flew up into the sky and were gone in a matter of seconds. Rona helped me to my feet.
"Rona… What you did… It wasn't like you," I said. "For a moment, I felt as though you actually cared…"
"I can't have you dying… You're our leader… You have to live," Rona replied.
"Just admit that I've actually taught you something," Ryth said.
"Think whatever you want." Rona walked off. I looked to Ryth, and we both shrugged. We followed after Rona. I was especially eager to get back with the others…