by C. W. Trisef
The island was of a unique shape. Well did it resemble a sort of flattened candlesnuffer, complete with a hollow foundation. In the middle of the island was a hole, directly over which hovered the element. A subtle conduit seemed to enclose the element, stretching infinitely both downwards, getting lost in the steam arising from the lava, and also upwards, eventually colliding with the ceiling.
Enveloped by the vast quantity of astounding things to behold, Ret was startled by an unexpected, though gentle, voice from behind him.
“I thought you’d never come,” the voice rasped, sounding as if it hadn’t been used in centuries.
Ret spun around to find an elderly man slowly walking towards him. Whereas most people would have been scared out of their wits in such a situation, Ret was actually quite relieved, for he knew, based on his present location and the tenderness of the stranger’s voice, that he was in the company of one of the Guardians of the Elements.
“Are you, sir, the Guardian of the Fire Element?” Ret asked, rather instinctively bowing his head in reverence.
“Please, please,” the Guardian pled graciously, as if Ret’s gesture of respect did not bode well with his humble character, “call me Argo. It’s my real name, after all.”
“But you are the Guardian, right?” Ret iterated, wanting to be sure.
“Oh, I suppose,” responded Argo nonchalantly, smiling. He waved his hand at a pile of volcanic rocks, which made them molten just long enough for him to mold them into a place to sit. Then, without any sign of haste, he sat down with a heavy sigh. It was proof enough for Ret.
Argo looked much the same as the Guardian of the Earth Element. He was old, yet nimble, with a well-groomed appearance. His hair, short and gray with a distinct part down one side, looked so immaculate that Ret wondered if it naturally grew that way. A plain robe covered all but his extremities, and his eyes conveyed a soul of perfect mildness. His skin was tanned and supple, as if charred by fire but moisturized by steam for years. In his very presence, Ret felt safe and protected.
“So you’ve already collected the earth element, have you?” Argo stated more than he questioned.
Suspicious, Ret replied, “How do you know I’ve—”
“Because you got passed my barrier,” answered Argo with a sense of pride.
“You mean the rock in the lava tube?”
“Precisely,” said the Guardian. “Granted, it’s probably not the most difficult obstacle to overcome, but all your First Father told me was what element would be collected before mine and that I ought to do something that required you to have it before you could get this one.” Ret had wondered before if there was a prescribed order to the procurement of the elements, and he was glad that at least the Oracle knew what it was doing. “By the way, who was the Guardian of the Earth Element?”
“Uh…” Ret stuttered, trying to recall any distinguishing features of the Guardian at Sunken Earth. “Well, he was a lot like you, except he was bald, and, uh…”
“Do you recall his name?”
“No,” Ret thought, “I don’t think he ever told me his name.”
“Must have been Heliu,” was Argo’s deduction. “He was always a little spacey. Lye called him the airhead. How did he look?”
“Fine,” Ret guessed. To be honest, what Ret remembered best about the Guardian of the Earth Element—or “Heliu”—was the smile on his face when he passed away, so he added, “He died smiling.”
Argo couldn’t suppress a smile of his own at the remembrance of what must have been an endearing friend. Ret paused to let Argo savor the moment before beginning his interrogation.
“Sir,” said Ret, “where exactly are we?”
“We’re in the magma chamber,” the Guardian taught. “It’s the pocket under the earth’s crust that feeds this great volcano. In an eruption, magma fills the chamber and shoots through its only outlet.” He pointed to the large, circular area in the ceiling above the element. “That’s the conduit, which leads to the throat, which is where you came in.” Then, noticing Ret’s awe-struck face, Argo observed, “Pretty impressive, huh? It goes to show how smart that little flame is,” pointing to the element, “picking a place like this to conceal itself. I won’t even tell you how long it took me to find it.”
Knowing his time with the Guardian was painfully precious and probably short, Ret kept rattling off the many questions that were on his mind: “Argo, sir, how is that island floating?” Ret pointed to the scrap of land above which the element hovered.
“Since it’s sort of shaped like a parachute,” Argo explained, “the gases and convection currents rising from the magma keep it aloft.”
“And, if you don’t mind me asking,” said Ret, “how am I supposed to, you know, get to it?”
The Guardian shrugged, “I was hoping you would know the answer to that one, son.” Ret was stunned by Argo’s lack of information on such a crucial matter, to say nothing of his vexation regarding the chore of figuring out how to access the element on his own. Still, it was one of those topics that seemed so daunting that Ret shoved it aside, not even wanting to attempt to tackle it at the moment.
“You must have more questions?” Argo probed like a patient school teacher.
“Yes!” Ret blurted out, anxious to ask his most burning question of all. “Do you know anything about the other four elements? What they are? Where they are? Anything at all?”
As if searching his brain, the Guardian thought hard for a moment and then said, “Not a thing.” Ret was afraid he would say that. “But that reminds me,” Argo rejoined. “Your First Father did instruct me to give you this.”
After digging in one of his deep pockets, Argo reached out and extended a curious object to Ret, who accepted it methodically. It appeared to be some kind of hour glass: two hollow chambers connected narrowly at each of their funneled ends. Made of blown glass, it measured quite small: no larger than Ret’s little finger. One end was filled halfway with shiny flecks, but when Ret stood the device upright to watch the flecks fall through to the bottom, they stayed put. Perhaps it was plugged.
“What is this?” Ret queried.
“You know, after all these years, I can’t recall,” Argo admitted, much to Ret’s chagrin. “The glass doesn’t look familiar to me, but I know for a fact that those little flecks of gold came from the Great River. That’s where all our precious metals came from, though it likely doesn’t exist anymore, as a result of all the physical upheaval when the Oracle’s elements were scattered.” The Guardian was more or less rambling now, saying everything he knew since he realized he wasn’t being of much help to Ret. Then, scratching his head and creating a ruffle in his flawless hairdo, he reasoned, “Still, its purpose escapes me. Just before he embarked to scatter the elements, your First Father gave each of us a little trinket like that, then said we were to give it to the one with the scars.”
“Wait a minute,” Ret verbally stepped back, “he gave one to each of you?”
“If my memory serves me right,” Argo asserted sheepishly, now doubting the validity of his own words, noticing how important this was to Ret.
“The other Guard—I mean, Heliu,” Ret corrected himself, “didn’t give me anything like this.”
With a grin, Argo looked down and, shaking his head, chuckled, “First his own name and now this—forgetful to the end!” Ret didn’t find the situation so amusing.
Suddenly, the sound of a loud blast abruptly killed the conversation. It would have seemed but another one of the many explosions constantly taking place throughout the magma chamber if it had not come from the wall of rock where Ret’s chute had slid him out. Scrutinizing this ledge for the first time, Ret noticed that there were dozens of holes all over the wall, just like the one he had exited. It seemed many, if not all, of the lava tubes led to this central location.
Only a few seconds after the echoes of the blast died down, another noise greeted their ears, this time the sound of a great many particles cascading down the chute
. Soon, the noisemakers manifested themselves as an avalanche of small stones and pebbles came rushing out one of the other lava tubes. It was then when Ret realized that the rolling rubble had once been a giant boulder that, like his own, was blocking the path of someone—someone who obviously didn’t bear his scars and, thus, didn’t possess his powers.
While the dust was still settling, the two poised men next heard the sound of a body sliding down the chute. Although Ret had no clue what friend or foe was approaching, Argo apparently did. Skin flushed and eyes aflame, the Guardian lowered his arms and ignited a fire in each of his hands, ready to spurn his unwanted guest.
Chapter 15
Fire Island
The unidentified newcomer’s feet had scarcely slid into view when the entire scene erupted in fiery explosion. Without hesitation, the Guardian produced a constant stream of flames that engulfed the opening of the lava tube. Relentlessly, Argo pummeled the unknown visitor, who certainly would die of asphyxiation if not incineration. After several moments of idle observation, Ret’s sympathy intervened.
“Stop!” Ret ordered, tugging at the drooping sleeves of Argo’s extended arms. “We don’t even know who it is!”
The Guardian obliged, although Ret wasn’t sure if the sudden cessation was due to Ret’s remonstration or the cremation’s completion. In silence, they waited as the smoke cleared, Argo’s palms still steaming. The entire backdrop surrounding the lava tube had been charred, so much so that the rock had begun to melt. The mysterious person stood barely inside the chute, crouched behind a protective wall of water. When the excitement had subsided, he abandoned his shield and stepped out of the tube. Ret couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Lye?” Ret asked, utterly stupefied. “But how…how did you…,” Ret stuttered, groping for words to convey his astonishment. Then, stating with wondrous dread, “You’re alive!”
“No thanks to you,” Lye snarled, dusting off his robes and leaning on his spiraled cane, “leaving me to die atop that dreadful mountain.”
“But how…how did you—escape?” Ret was completely beside himself to find that Lye, let alone anyone, had survived the cataclysmic collapse of Sunken Earth. “It was Bubba, wasn’t it? He helped you escape.”
“That hothead?” Lye balked. “He and that woman of his don’t know anything about my real motives. They still believe they’re going to strike oil or find buried treasure or something! Do you really think I would tell them about the element—about the Oracle?”
“So you lied to them?” Ret stated, putting things together. “You—you used them?”
“Oh, Ret!” the shriveled hunchback cackled with pleasure. “Your innocence never ceases to amaze me! So naïve! So gullible!” Lye’s menacing laughter seemed to shroud the air in darkness. “You should never have left me alive. You should have killed me when you had the chance. But you couldn’t, could you? You were too noble, too compassionate. You see, Ret, to be merciful is to be weak!”
“That will do!” Argo interjected. He was still standing next to Ret, stone-faced, looking as though it was all he could do to restrain himself from resuming his assault on Lye.
“Why, if it isn’t Argo,” Lye hissed, turning to face the Guardian for the first time. “My apologies, old friend: I hardly saw you standing there. You never were one to draw much attention to yourself.”
“Unlike you,” Argo retorted.
“Let this be a lesson to you, Ret,” Lye taught. “The so-called ‘Guardians of the Elements’ are no more than a pathetic group of weaklings and simpletons—experts in nothing but mediocrity. Haven’t you ever wondered why they were the ones ‘chosen’ to protect the elements?” Then, answering his own question, Lye barked, “Because they’re pawns! So submissive and obedient to foolish traditions—ignorant of the Oracle’s real power and too foolish to wield it themselves.” His voice was growing ever louder. “But I am different; I, and I alone, understand the grand secret of the whole matter: rather than let the Oracle control me, I will control the Oracle!”
“LIAR!” Argo bellowed. In his hot displeasure, the Guardian recommenced his role as a human flamethrower, though with much greater ferocity than before. Not a whit behind him, Lye blocked his attacker with a horizontal geyser of water, collected from the humid air. Like a fire-breathing dragon versus an uncapped fire hydrant, the two forces collided head-on, erupting in a dazzling display of steam.
Ret looked on, unsure of what to do.
“Help me!” Argo supplicated through clenched teeth, obviously exerting great effort. “Let’s take Lye down once and for all!”
Ret heeded the Guardian’s call to arms. Through pure brainpower, Ret started to heat the ground underneath Lye’s feet. Then, glowing like a burner on a stove, the stone floor melted away, prompting Lye to quickly jump to safety, though his pilfered cleats fell far below into the lava of the magma chamber.
Utilizing Lye’s brief distractedness, Argo laid both arms at his sides and gradually raised them like a maestro conducting an orchestra’s dramatic crescendo. As his hands extended above his head, two massive waves of lava rose from the depths of the chamber, one on each side of the platform affixed to the ceiling. Then, letting his hands fall downward together, the torrents of lava came crashing down on Lye, who enclosed himself in a bubble of water just prior to being consumed.
Neither Ret nor the Guardian moved, not even flinching as the lava licked their legs as it drained off the platform back to where it came. When it had come in contact with the water of Lye’s enclosure, it had hardened, leaving a spherical shell of rock surrounding the villain. Ret called upon his power over earth and rolled the solid bubble, containing Lye, over the edge.
As the casing approached the churning sea of lava, a brilliant flash of light shot through its base. The protective cage cracked open like an egg, and Lye came hurtling out of it, straddling his cane as it propelled him upward. Argo commanded the waves of lava to heave themselves mightily in an attempt to swallow Lye, but, like a nimble witch on her broom, Lye evaded the danger and flew to the other platform, on the other side of the fire element.
There was another radiant flash of light, and an electrical current like lightning shot out of Lye’s cane. It crashed into the narrow neck that connected the ceiling to the body of the platform where Ret and Argo were standing. A growing crack zigzagged through the stone, accompanied by the deep sounds of buckling rock. Just as the platform threatened to break off and plummet, Ret held it in place long enough for Argo to melt the rock and weld it back together.
Now with a sizeable space between them, Argo engaged Lye in a more long-distance battle. The Guardian turned each puddle of residual lava into a sort of missile turret, launching liquid bullets at his rival. Argo fired dozens of rounds simultaneously from all directions, but Lye met each one with a simple squirt of water that turned it to rock, which abruptly fell toward the lava below. Seizing the opportunity, Ret then caught each falling bullet of volcanic rock and aimed them at Lye. Still, Lye proved to be impressively dexterous as he not only addressed each of Argo’s projectiles but also blocked each of Ret’s pellets with his cane.
“I’ll cover you,” Argo said to Ret, realizing they were not making any progress. “You collect the element. Go!”
Though Ret understood the command, he still had little idea how we was expected to fulfill it. The floating island had not become any more accessible than it had been moments earlier. Yet, Ret was determined. As Lye continued to harden Argo’s lava bullets, Ret gathered some of the rocks and laid them before him to form a sort of levitating walkway. He stepped onto the first one and found it challenging to maintain his balance on such a meager support while standing on but one foot. Then he jumped onto the next stepping stone, almost falling. As he leapt, however, he noticed the island immediately counteract his motion: it began to float even higher, though cockeyed, as if something was pushing up on the side farthest from him. With each arduous jump toward it, the element floated further away.
&nb
sp; Completely perplexed, Ret’s languishing logic was interrupted when Lye began pulverizing his stepping stones. Each bolt of electricity reduced a stone to dust. Abandoning his first attempt, Ret left his current step just as Lye destroyed it, then launched himself back to the ledge where he had begun.
“Did you see that?” Ret asked the Guardian, referring to how the island evaded him.
“It seems as though anything that enters the moat around the island,” Argo stipulated, now flinging discs of lava at Lye, “disrupts the equilibrium achieved by the rising currents and gases. Can’t you control the island—you know, bring it to you?”
“No, it’s resisting,” Ret answered. “Besides, even if I could control the island, I can’t move the element.”
“Well, I hope you figure it out soon,” Argo wished. “I can’t keep this madman at bay much longer.”
Ret had the sudden idea to try to simply walk out to the island. If there was enough thrust keeping it afloat, he reasoned, perhaps it would do the same for him. Warily, he stopped mid-step and let his foot hang over the edge. The island seemed to quiver at the disturbance. He felt nothing buoyant about the situation, but he lifted up his other foot to finish his first step anyway, since he had no other ideas.
Not surprisingly, he could not walk on air at all but, instead, began falling towards the endless belly of lava. Dropping feet-first, however, he was shocked to discover a form of combustion occurring underneath his feet. It was like each of his shoes had been transformed into a rocket. It took him a few moments to get the hang of it, but in very little time, Ret was zooming upwards to the island like a rocketeer.