Pontus looked at her in question.
“I stabbed an orc to death for my girl; many times to make sure he was dead.” She mimed out the action. “Other than the attempted rape, he was also a jerk, so I don’t lose sleep over it. Pay evil unto evil, you know? I was also willing to become a reaper because an ordercrafter was after her. An eternity of servitude to the god of death for the sake of my one true love.”
“So you understand!”
“Yes, I do, but I don’t approve.”
“What?”
“You see, there is a crucial difference between you and me. I did that in defense of my girl, while you did that to be with her. It’s a matter of motive and initiative. Mine was immediate and entirely centered on her wellbeing and yours was long term and selfish. A guy should be willing to do anything for his girl, but only if it’s truly for her and not himself.”
Pontus jumped up and drew his sword. “Don’t get all high and mighty with me, little...”
He coughed into his sleeve hard enough to lose his grip. Then his legs wobbled and he fell back to his knees.
“Really?”
Erica’s heart rate accelerated. Standing behind her was her girl. She was free of ash or any other blemish from the volcano and on her face was a radiant smile. Erica ran to hug her, but she held up a hand and so she held herself back.
“You know how deep my devotion to you goes,” Erica said. “It helped keep me sane in Nulso’s clinic.”
She clapped her gloved hands together and her eyes sparkled. “That makes me happy because there’s something I want to tell you.”
Annala reached into thin air and pulled out a hand. A man stepped forward. His hair and ears marked him as an elf and his clothing marked him as a chaos priest. Annala leaned into him and he looked adoringly at her.
“This is Dio, and he’s a priest I met while traveling. He’s kind, a martial pacifist, pious, book nerdy, and helpful with my condition. He’s my new boyfriend. Is this all right with you?”
Erica’s pupils slit. “MY TERRITORY!” She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “I didn’t mean that! It’s not all right with me, but I...I will...TEAR YOU APART! I didn’t mean that either. It’s just so sudden and GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!”
She raised her right arm and it became that of a grendel. With savage eyes and a feral growl, she brought it crashing down on Dio’s head. Then it stopped just before making contact. Taking one deep breath after another, it returned to human form and to Erica’s side.
“Do you accept our love?” Dio asked.
He hadn’t moved an inch from Erica’s attack. His only response was to tighten his grasp on Annala’s hand. His eyes were set and cold. Annala’s were worried and fearful. She regarded him as she would a monster, like she had for an instant in Nulso’s clinic. This brought to mind Nulso and the collar he put on her, which led to other trouble with a necklace.
Memories of Kasile’s hypnotism raced to the front of Eric’s mind. Lunas stole her heart by infiltrating her mind and presenting himself as her ideal suitor. Annala’s behavior matched Kasile’s perfectly. There was only one logical conclusion.
“You’re an ordercrafter.”
“Excuse me?” Dio asked.
“I don’t have to accept it if it doesn’t exist and it doesn’t exist because you are an ordercrafter and making her do this.”
“No, I’m not an ordercrafter. Order does not abide lies.”
“Then you’re doing something else to control her! MY ANNALA WOULDN’T BETRAY ME!”
“She doesn’t belong to you.” Dio adjusted his grip to move Annala behind him. “She can leave your lair whenever she wants.”
“THREAT!”
Erica made the full transformation and tackled Dio. She pummeled the elf until his handsome face turned into goo and his holy robes were nothing but tatters. Extending her chaotic claw, she chambered to stab him, drain his Seed of Chaos, and thereby kill him permanently. Without warning, he was shot in the head with an arrow.
It bowled him over, and he stared up at the ceiling. Annala’s grip on her bow was steady but her eyes wavered.
“I thought you were a mercenary,” she said as tears filled her eyes, “but now I know that you’re just a monster. I made the right choice.”
She turned her back on him and returned Deathkiller to it. Behind her, Erica’s body burst into flames. She rejoined Dio, who was experiencing his own regeneration. She held his hand and apologized for her ex’s behavior. He nodded and both of them disappeared.
The flames died down and Eric’s body assumed its next form. It was still female and, this time, the body had orange hair. Even after his rebirth completed its course, she lay in place, stunned. Then Pontus crawled over to her and said, “You hypocrite.”
“Oh shut up. My point is *cough*.”
This triggered a sardonic look from Pontus. “Suffocate on sins, huh?”
At first, Erica refused to acknowledge that. Protecting Annala wasn’t a sin. She was pardoned for murdering in Annala’s defense and correct in suspecting that suitors too good to be true were predatory. However, this train of thought was broken by a wheezing fit. Walking forward, she fell to one knee as all her strength left her. This led to the other side of the coin.
The pardon was a one-time exception and the other times landed him in legal trouble. The possibility of an elven priest who was a nice guy and who understood Annala’s supernatural condition better than himself was not only possible but likely. As he realized this, he accepted it. As he accepted it, he felt stronger.
“Hmm...could this be the hell of Fiol’s Faithful? OF COURSE! Of course, it is! Why didn’t I see it sooner? This is both celestial and abyssal. Fire is closest to chaos and so it contains a duality. Both villains and heroes are burned, but with the latter, it’s after their death. It’s an honor. For the former, it’s an execution. We came in when we were still alive. We still have fleshy bits. That’s why this keeps happening. We’re trying to have it both ways, which is itself a contradiction. We have to pull it off somehow.”
“What are you talking about?” Pontus asked.
Erica smacked herself in the forehead, and right over the ashes that still marked it. These ashes were missing from Pontus’ forehead. This triggered a second revelation.
“That’s why it took a week. If I had studied longer like I was supposed to, then I would have realized it sooner and had an easier time here. I had to understand this place.” She pointed at Pontus and said, “You were thrown in here unceremoniously, right?”
Pontus nodded.
“For you, this is a prison. I bet you didn’t pass through a room containing a giant phoenix, did you?”
Pontus nodded again.
“You have no idea what to do because you have no understanding of Fire Theology. You are baffled by what’s happening to you and you have no tools to help you. If I hadn’t come along, you would be stuck here forever.”
“Does that mean you’re going to save me?”
“Yes,” Erica pointed at her clothes, “dressed as I am,” she pointed at the ashes, “with the blessing I have,” she placed both hands on her head, “and with the knowledge I possess, I believe I can. In fact!” She raised one arm and one finger. Looking smugly at Pontus, she pointed and declared, “I think I’m supposed to.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes. Have you met anyone else in this place?”
Pontus shook his head.
“Surely you don’t think you’re the only person in history to be thrown in here. Yet, the two of us together have only met each other. I suspect I’m supposed to share my fire with you, like Torch Day. Fire can be used to torture, but it can also be used to heal. Although this healing can be painful, it is effective.”
“Okay, then how do we go about this healing fire thing?”
Erica dabbed a few of the ashes on her forehead and stuck them on Pontus’ forehead. He yelled in agony and backed away. Erica beckoned him forward, and reluctant
ly, he did so. She placed her finger on his forehead again and Pontus bit his lip at the painful sensation. She drew a circle and recited the same words as the Fire Sage. It shimmered and burned and he reached up to wipe it off.
He caught himself at the last moment and clutched his hands while the fire seared his skin and its spiritual essence scoured his soul. Blood dripped down his mouth as he struggled to hold in his screams. He lost that battle; he fell to the ground and howled. Erica waited and watched.
“We have to grab the fire end of the torch,” she said. “By that, I mean we have to look straight into our passions and examine them. What we have here, between the two of us, are tragedies. They’re how our passions can burn us. I’m here because I want to live forever with my girlfriend and I have experienced a number of drawbacks: she doesn’t recognize me, she finds someone else, I’m alone for a lifetime. I found a way around all these but the last. So here’s what I’m going to do.”
Turning away from the suffering Pontus, she spoke to the far end of the corridor.
“Annala, I want to spend eternity with you, but if you find someone else, I will accept that. I won’t be okay with it, I really won’t, but while I work in a dragon’s lair, I am not one. With all of time to find someone new, I will do my best to do so.”
The corridor flickered and rushed past her. She was now alone in another section. She walked until she heard the sounds of passion. Annala was with Dio again and intimately so. Erica’s territorial instinct flared, but she suppressed it and guided it in a different direction. It wasn’t possession of Annala she sought but happiness for her. Erica continued walking until they were out of sight and out of hearing range. Then Pontus appeared next to her.
“Figure it out, did you?” Erica asked.
“No...I’m ashamed to say,” Pontus replied. “The Fire Sage appeared in spirit and offered absolution in exchange for recognition of my faults and a holy vow to make up for them. If I break that vow, the burning will start up again.”
“At least you’re not coughing anymore.”
As they advanced, they encountered phantoms of their past. Things they were proud of and things they were not; things that drove them forward and things that encumbered them. The tunnel forced them to watch each as it appeared and re-live it by walking through its image.
It was as Erica expected. First were the highlights and lowlights of Eric’s miserably mundane Threa life. She shrugged and continued walking. She felt detached from her former life; technically, it was a former-former-former life. There was no point getting worked up over this unfortunate event, that person’s transgression, or how he let both of them happen. Even his murder of Tahart only provoked a grimace. Eric’s time with Grey Dengel taught him not to let the past define him and his mutation gave him a new perspective on it anyway.
Then Eric’s fears popped up and this, too, went as expected. In addition to his fears concerning Annala, there was the death of his team, Nolien’s monsanity relapse, the triumph of Lunas, and his own explosion as the Chaos Avatar. They were things to keep in mind for sure and prevent if possible, but there was no point in getting worked up about them either.
After confronting both the past and the future, she arrived at a stone door. It was marked by a dragon flying over a crowd of humanoids and their town. Looking over her shoulder, Erica saw Pontus frozen in place at the start.
“Are you scared of your own shadow?” she asked.
“If yours was as dark as mine, then you would be too,” Pontus replied.
“You’ll never advance if you never step forward. By looking over your shoulder, you don’t know what’s ahead.”
She mimed each step as she spoke it and each one made Pontus clench his teeth tighter. By the end, he shouted, “Don’t give me koan!”
“Seriously, isn’t your fiancée worth a trip down memory lane? I promise I won’t look.”
Pontus took a breath, slapped himself on both cheeks, and resolutely stepped forward. Erica obligingly did not look at what composed his long and dark shadow. Instead, she examined her fingernails and considered painting them. She settled on “no.” By the time Pontus was next to her again, he was pale-faced and shaking. Then he threw up.
“That bad, huh?” She rubbed his back. “Don’t worry; the past can’t hurt you.”
Pontus leaned on his knees. “It’s the future I’m worried about.”
Erica stood up and pointed at the door. “Then let’s become immortal.”
Inside the door was a dais and on this dais was a grand and fearsome dragon. Its scales were black all the way through; coal that could power an industry or choke a creature’s lungs. Its wingspan was broad and strong enough to blot out the sun. A large red jewel was set at its stomach and smaller ones staged across its body. They gleamed with fires from that of an army’s camp to that of a star. Its eyes were the most intense of all.
“Welcome, Eric Watley.” The smoke and steam from its nostrils could power the largest of furnaces and its breath could melt any metal. “I have been expecting you.”
Erica made a little curtsy but didn’t take her eyes off the divine being.
“Thank you for the audience, Fire Dragon.”
“You stand before me seeking eternal life. The power, ambition, and peril that you have experienced here. Do you still wish it?”
“I do.”
“Why do you feel worthy of it?”
“I overcame a mage much greater than myself in a magical duel and, in the process, I overcame my own weakness. I consumed my own bodily waste to preserve my power and crossed the void between worlds to return home. I confronted “S” Class monsters and practitioners of dark arts. I sought power from four of the eight worldly administrators and used it to smite a servant of Order. All this I did on behalf of Fiol’s Torch. Now I humbly request your aid in accomplishing my current ambition.”
The dragon leaned forward, appraising Erica. Then it lunged. Gleaming white teeth snapped around Erica’s body but did not touch her. Nor did Erica flinch. She stood firmly in place, but her skin shifted from flesh to metal. One of the dragon’s many teeth fell loose and clattered at Erica’s feet.
“Take this with my blessing.”
Erica took the tooth in her hands and it shrank to fit. “Thank you very much, Fire Dragon. May your fire burn brightly forever.”
“And may yours as well.”
Erica placed the tooth in her second pocket and Fire Dragon curled its tail to reveal the exit. As Erica advanced, Pontus stepped forward.
“Ah...divine Fire Dragon, may I humbly seek the...”
The dragon’s eyes whipped to Pontus. It flashed malevolently.
“Ye guilty!”
Pontus’ mouth dropped and he scrambled away, but the dragon was quicker. Its ivory claws impaled the foxman and then placed him inside the dragon’s great mouth. Erica watched in horror as Fire Dragon swallowed and Pontus moved through its throat and into its stomach.
“He may not yet advance,” the dragon said. “He has more sins to atone for and more understanding to acquire. My internal fire will smelt out his impurities and re-forge him into something that might become worthy. Then I will evaluate him again. If he is worthy and still alive, then I will send him on his way with a fitting gift.”
Erica trembled. While she didn’t like backing down to anyone, she knew this was a fight she couldn’t win. “Splendid. I’ll be on my way, then.”
Fire Dragon nodded. “You’ve started the final leg of your journey.”
Ten paces out of Fire Dragon’s chamber, two tiles trapped Erica’s feet and she toppled over. Something underneath the floor was pulling her in. Its killing intent was terrifying, even for her. Magic did not affect it, so she did something desperate.
Transforming her hands into claws, she cut off her legs at the midpoint between her ankles and knees. It was horrifically painful, but like the intelligent monster that she was, she grit her teeth and did it anyway. She used fire magic to cauterize the wound and ste
rilize it. All she really had to worry about was moving forward.
With her grendel claws, she did just that; one gouge into the floor after another. She counted fifty pairs of this before she regained feeling in her feet, and then another one hundred before the feeling was more than phantom pain. At last, she pushed herself back up into the upright and bipedal position.
As she walked further through the third corridor, she took care to watch the tiles and make sure no more would eat her. She turned on Magic Sight to spot hidden magic. She waved her spear forwards before every step. So careful was she that she didn’t notice the spot growing on her right arm.
The spot grew. It became malignant. By the time Erica noticed, half of her arm was covered in it. Without any idea how to cure it, Erica was left with one option. She tore it off and tossed it away. For a moment, the pain was blinding. Then it faded. Only minutes later, the pain was gone. It was no different than ripping off a bandage. She continued walking.
After some time spent in the corridor, her right arm returned. She flexed it to make sure it still worked. Now she watched for diseases in addition to trap panels and a couple other things. All those happened regardless. By the time she reached the end, she’d lost her entire body, including her head. Only quick thinking and creative use of her Mana Enlightenment enabled her to escape with her soul intact. She was only feet away from the third door when even that burst into flames.
A new physical body formed around the flaming spiritual one. It was a human male, young adult, blue-eyed, and a red head. Then it turned into a grendel, then an elf, and finally back into a human.
This third door was marked by a salamander running away from a bird without its tail. Inside was a dais and on this dais was a tremendous lizard. From head to tail, it was cloaked in red scales with orange patches in random places. Its claws were black and so were its teeth. A white aura set these colors aflame. Its yellow eyes bore down on Eric.
“Welcome, Eric Watley. I have been expecting you.”
Eric made a little bow but didn’t take his eyes off the divine being.
“Thank you for the audience, Fire Salamander.”
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