Chapter 9

Steps Thorough a Cave

The bubbling magma gushed through the volcanos base, then poured down the jet black stone stained with textures of horizontal lines of pale brown, ending in a free fall sploosh that landed into giant domes above my head.

“Ah yes , the lights seem to be working." One of the council of fire , a lava spirit , who seemed quite serious in nature said. He flew high with his crystalline lava colored wings and looked over the giant transparent stones that illuminated the cave with a critical glare.

“Good," he said. "Everything seems to be flowing properly." He turned toward me. “ It is interesting no? “

I shrugged. “I’ve seen better. “

The wizened man twitched a little and In the back I swore I could hear the crunching of someone’s teeth. I kept walking though , paying entirely no notice , my steps clacking as me and the crew followed the council of fire further into the cave.

So far beside the fancy lighting we were just walking through a rough cutout of the earth , but now the earth had begun to smooth out. The smooth rock seemed to come to a head as we reached a corner that took a sharp left turn.

All of a sudden the way went from a hole in the ground to a kingdom beneath the floor.

The first difference was the wall, it was vastly wider and came with a change in texture and color. The sides of the wall were carved out of an entirely different stone , one that was transparent yet shined with a outlay of vibrant encrusted white.

Within that transparent stone , lava flowed from somewhere unseen and found itself into the first of several hallowed out spheres. The gold magma burst from the first smallest small sphere in the middle , where it then overflowed from the sphere gradually falling from one to the next , creating an over lapping effect on a scale that was tens of feet wide and high.

From the domes overhead shining gold to the bubbling red and white from the wall , it seemed as if I rounded the corner to another world.

The Wizened spirit looked quite proud as his narrowed eye fell to Lysa observingly, curious as he was to see her reaction.

He wasn’t disappointed. The woman’s eyes were wide with surprise as she took in the piece of art and after a while her eyes fell away with a blink , and she was lost in thought.

It wasn’t quite the reaction the man was looking for , so his eyes fell to me instead , as if asking , what do you think?

I simply shrugged.

“it’s ehh. “

This time I could hear a grumble of dissatisfaction at my response.

The spirit was joined by his three comrades in the fastest show of solidarity I had ever seen.

A pointy nose lady spirit in particular got fairly close, arms crossed and red cheeks particularly glowey. In a high pitch voice , the spirit said ,

“I call bullshit. No one has a better lava cave than us. “

Her fellow fire spirits quickly held her back.

“Are you crazy !"

“Do you know what that is !"

“Yea , I know! I can see it , he’s one of those big super strong creatures , right ? I know that!" The spirit tightened her hand so tight I could see lava ripple beneath. “But!”

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“ There’s no one with a better lava home than the fire spirits ."

My eyes narrowed deviously. They were taking the bait.

“Alright. Let us say I take you in the fight you’re picking. “ I held up a finger.

“The last lava kingdom I went too was quite grand. So grand in fact that I took a living memory of it. Find me one thing , just one thing that is more grand than the last lava kingdom I’ve been to and I’ll admit you’re lava kingdom is grand. “

The pointy nose spirit considered the matter.

“ And if you win ? “

“ You have to throw another item in with the telescope, one of my choosing.”

The spirits huddled together in a quick talk. Whispering and conversing ideas.

When they stopped . They turned and spoke as one.

“Only if you add in something more to the bargain. “

“Whadaya want? “

“ A twelfth of your lifespan. “

“Deal. “

“The pact is struct. “ The council turned and yelled “young flame!” , fire blossomed in the air once, twice , then a small living flame arrived and bent low beneath the lava spirits.

“Go , young one,” the council spoke. Ignite the flame for the next great rooms and make sure the smith’s twenty four treasures are laid out.”

I interrupted thier grand command. “The Last stop is still the telescope right? “

“Indeed , the last stop is our smithy, where we do the bending of glass and rock. We shall craft your telescope after our business is settled. “

“In fact.” The spirit turned his gaze to his wrist where a small ringlet of metallic rock hung loosely. With a wave of his right hand , a wispy cloud of black smoke traveled down his arm . The cloud moved with a steady pace , crawling around his arm like a living object.

When it met the rock , it flowed between slight gaps I wasn’t aware were their, slithering over the edges of steel and condensing until all of a sudden where their had been a cloud of smoke, their was now a ball. the ball of smoke huffed and puffed before the ball shape fell away into a more sleek object.

A watch.

“The artisan spirits should’ve arrived and will be lighting the smithy now as well. By the time we finish looking over the last items your telescope should be ready to form. “

“Perfect. “ I said and as our feet clacked atop the stone, my eyes once again strayed toward the watch.

I looked at my wrist that was empty, ‘maybe’ I thought , I should pick that.

It was around this time Lysa scooted to my side . “Your really not impressed. “ she asked curiously.

“No I am. “

“Huh? “

“C’mon it’s a kingdom of lava , I’ve only seen four of these , I’m super impressed . “

Lysa scratched her head.

“So what’s the play here. Do you actually have a desire to see the architecture? “

I waved the question off with a hand. “Something like that ,” I said smiling. “ These spirits always have a lot of pride, if you play it the right way it’s quite easy to see some of the gems they keep for themselves. “ I smiled deviously. “They like to gamble too.”

“Squeak. “

“Of course I won’t go overboard Peeps. “

Lysa frowned a little then a ahah moment struck her.

“Is this how Peeps got turned into a guy. “

I scratched my head.

“Yeaaaa, Peeps use to like to gamble too. “

Lysa frowned at that. “ What in the world is worth gambling your gender over?”

I smiled. “ There’s this lava kingdom below the South Equator. They make these - “

“Squeak!”

I put up my hands as Peeps angrily chirped. “Ok , Ok I won’t talk about it. “

I looked at Lysa. “My hands are tied. “

“Hmmmm.” Lysa said curiously. “Well aright , I guess. I’ll just keep my eyes peeled for something extraordinary. “

I smiled at that.

“You won’t have to wait long. “

“You don’t think.” Lysa responded.

“Naa. In fact-“

“We’re here. “ The pointy nosed spirit looked up.

A large obsidian black door lay to our right. A design took its door, one of a giant eagle that was emblazoned. On it’s corners lay hinges of gold and it’s handle was a circle of handcrafted diamond.

The spirits placed their hands squarely on the eagle and soon flame came pouring in, rapidly filling in the edges until soon, the eagle was fully aflame.

Only then did the door creak.

The pointy nosed spirit turned back as the door opened. “ I hope your ready to pay up."

“Stop it Helda!” Her companions said , trying to hold her back.

So her name was Helda huh.

“We shall see little one,” I spoke.

The door opened.