Young Flame

After making quick work of the centipede, we climb to the ledge of the Titan’s path to see a large fissure in the ground. It’s not an unusual sight along the unstable earth parallel to the path, but I don’t think any of us expected anything to be down there.

“You don’t think…” Grímr trails off as we all stare down into the darkness.

We’re not on the glacier anymore, so there shouldn’t be anything underneath us. Well, as far as I’ve been told, there shouldn’t be. I look over at Remus to see what he thinks.

“Whelp, only one way to find out.” He winks back at us before throwing himself down the into the depths.

Both Jav and Bunny follow soon after, but I can’t do it. I can’t push myself to jump into the earth like that. What if it caves in on me?

Grímr stands by my side, not even taking a step toward the crevice. He lays by my side and fakes a yawn. “You know I’m kind of tired. I think I’ll take a nap here while the others do all the hard work down there.”

Whether he’s playing around or is just a poor actor, I’m not sure, but I don’t think I can express how appreciative I am for his consideration. I don’t want to go down there, but I don’t know what I’ll do if I’m left alone up here.

I sit down and lean into his fur. My body pushes its heat to warm the both of us, even though doing so burns through far more energy than I should. The frozen air leaves a dull ache through my body the longer I’m exposed. Even burning hot, I can feel it permeating through me. Ever so slowly getting worse.

I really hope they find nothing down there. Hopefully, the centipede just fell down into the crevice and we only saw as it crawled back out.

As I huddle in close, I look out over the land below the alps. It’s incredible how high we are. A carpet of clouds dot the land as far as I can see. We have come so far already, but as I glance up at the peak of the Alps above, it only feels like the mountain has gotten higher.

The world below me is serene, beautiful even. Despite the danger, there is so much more to the world than the empty husk that is the wasteland. So many curiosities to see. Simply being here, taking in the sights, fills me with questions. Is the horizon curved or is it a trick of the eye? Why are the Alps bigger than normal mountain ranges?

I glance down the fissure my teammates descended.

What lurks where we cannot see?

Despite the dangers to my kind, I really think the áed should explore beyond the borders of our wasteland. If I could survive out here, there is no reason the adults can’t. The world may be dangerous, but there are far more resources to be found. We would never find ourselves wanting again.

Eventually, the resources in the wasteland will dry up, and when that happens, all áed will be forced out regardless of how fearful they are of what is outside.

Grímr and I continue to wait in a comfortable silence until the others come back.

“So? Lead anywhere?” the vibration I feel through his fur as he speaks makes me want to lean into him more, like a soft bed, but the others are back so I give up on comfort and rise to my feet.

“You won’t believe what we found,” Remus says. “There’s a tunnel, about ten metres wide, that follows under the path.”

“Really? How far does it go?”

“Don’t know. We walked for a while without finding an end. It’s definitely where those creatures are coming from; the tunnel was crawling with them.”

“So we’ve found it then?” I ask. “We can go back and report it now, right?”

Remus shakes his head as Bunny approaches my side. “Unfortunately, we still need to investigate. We need to know what’s at the end of that tunnel.”

“But we can continue on the surface, right? Go down and check every now and then. You said it follows under the Titan’s path, right?” Grímr asks for my sake.

“That will take too long. And we can’t afford to split our strength.” Remus looks at me as he says that, and my chest clenches. I have a bad feeling.

“But, Solvei…” Grímr turns to me with concern.

Now something screams a warning in my head and I take a step back. I’m stopped by Bunny, who puts a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “But facing your fears is the best way to cure phobia.”

I feel my body tense at her words, but she has me in her grasp and in moments we are falling into darkness.

My arms lash out, trying to free me from her iron grip. I kick and wriggle. Nothing makes her let me go. My chest writhes and my form abandons its physicality. She is already sprinting through the tunnel, my bright yellow flame illuminating the walls of the cavern as we pass through.

I struggle in my outfit, feeling far more trapping than it had a minute ago. My breath comes in ragged gasps and my eyes flicker all around me, looking for some way out.

As my panic rises, I worm my way out of the snowsuit. My flames clawing their way out the arm and neck holes. I feel a strange sensation of extreme calm as my body splits into three. It doesn’t last long. My body pulls back together and with it, a sledgehammer of overwhelming pressure sends me sprawling.

I feel the hard rock under my fingers. Without thought, fire explodes from me. Searching for the way out. Any escape I can. My feet kick at the ground and I’m sprinting away from Tetsu. Flames scorch the walls of the tunnel. Where did she bring me from? Where is the way out?

I run and run and run. The walls around me close in, squeezing at my sides. The darkness gets darker. The dark rock under my feet grasps at me with each step, trying to hold me down, to keep me locked away. But I will not give up. I’ll keep running until I’m free.

A crack!

A tiny fissure in the tunnel's side. Without a moment’s hesitation, I throw myself into it. The incorporeal nature of my form the only thing letting me through. I scamper through the tiny opening until it ends at a wall. My fingers dig into the stone, melting right through. I claw my way up the wall, scampering to reach the sky as fast as possible.

Rock digs into my back as I climb. If not for my arms able to bend around the tight curve between stone walls, I wouldn’t be able to move them. Molten rock from where my fingers dig flows down the wall in tiny cascades. I glance up, but I still can’t see the way out.

It’s here. I know it is. It has to be.

My hand hits something. I try to put my hand above me again, but I hit rock again. A ceiling? My body trembles as I send my arms to the sides, looking for the path up that has to be there. Not only don’t I find any way up, the walls clamp down on my sides.

I scream. Fire detonates around me as I push everything I have into burning through the rock above. I dig at the rock, scooping it away as it melts on contact.

Everything around me glows red. I scrape at the ceiling with desperation, but I slip. The rock above my head falls out of range as a feeling of weightlessness overcomes me.

Dread. Horror. My escape evades me.

My arms slam to my side as an impact rocks my back.

It takes until a drop of molten rock lands on my face for me to realise I’ve fallen. The glowing earth above still searing hot.

I’m tired.

My flames rage at the surrounding walls, soon engulfing me in a flood of lava, but I don’t move. I can’t. I’m unable to tell which way is up. Am I on the ceiling? Floor? Maybe I’m stuck to the wall? It doesn’t matter; the darkness encroaches almost as fast as the rock. It’s hard to breathe.

I’m exhausted.

What am I doing? I’m not free yet. I need to do everything, anything I can to stay free. Never again shall I stay trapped, even if I die trying.

It’s hard, but I rise to my feet again. My hands try to find a grip in the wall, but the molten rock keeps me from getting a good grip. Regardless, I keep trying. I push my arms deep into the stone to get as much of a hold as I can. Ever so slowly, I pull myself to the ceiling again.

Aches ripple through my body from the exertion, but I’m so close to my escape. I burn. I burn so hot it hurts. The rock liquefies at a touch, so I have to dig in with my legs just as much as I burn away with my arms.

The darkness is terrifyingly close now. Everything except what’s directly in front of my eyes might as well not exist. Each scrape brings me closer to escape, but I feel the walls clamping down on me now. I push my arm forward again, only to miss.

What? I’m falling again? But I can feel the walls hugging me. Squeezing me. Crushing me. Why is my escape leaving?

Everything is dark now.

❖❖❖

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I never thought her reaction would be so severe.” Tetsu peers into the tight crack Solvei somehow wedged herself inside.

“She told you how terrified she was. Did you not consider how she might feel for a second?” Grímr snarls as he glowers at her.

“Just shut up and help me get her out. I can’t hear her struggling anymore.”

This hadn’t been what she wanted. Tetsu thought there might have been a bit of panic — It was all but certain the girl would lash out — but if it helped her get over her fear, then it would be worth whatever anger she might receive from the girl.

Magma flows over Tetsu’s arm as she tears off a chunk of rock, widening the opening. It surprised her how much heat she could feel from within. It exceeded what Tetsu thought the girl could manage.

“That was more than the desperation a simple fear could incite. It seems the Void Fog is quite insidious.” Remus stands behind Tetsu as she continues to tear away at the wall. “I’m sorry, Grímr, don’t blame Bunny for this. We agreed together that exposure therapy would have the best chance at helping her. It is my fault this happened.”

The fissure widens enough for Tetsu to get a view at the glowing cavern. There isn’t a spot along the tight crevice that hasn’t liquefied. Magma rolls down the walls and pools below. Solvei isn’t in sight; likely submerged in the molten rock.

“Remus, can you get her out?” Tetsu asks as she pulls out of the tight passage.

Better to have the most flexible of them in the tight passage.

Without a word, Remus does as asked. He squirms his way through and comes out with the young áed in a moment. She is limp in his limbs, lost to unconsciousness. Her body flickers in flame, no longer hiding what she is. Despite the damage she just caused to the chamber, her flames are weak. She gives off far less heat than normal.

“Grímr, pass me her iron.”

The portian is quick to pull his packs off and rummage through them. With precision that would have been impossible for a normal mountain panther, he pulls out the metal ingots between his claws.

Remus takes them and holds them against the child’s chest. It looks strange to Tetsu, but Remus is the only one on the team that knows anything about the áed and their biology.

“So what now? Do we go back to the surface?” Jav asks.

“No, we still need to move on.”

“Then I’ll take Solvei and wait on the surface.” Grímr moves to take her from Remus, but he raises a limb to stop him.

“No. We’re not splitting up. I don’t want to risk you two having to face a mid tier alone.” His eyes move back down the tunnel where the darkness is impenetrable. “Besides, we’ll need our full strength going forward.”

Grímr growls. “How could you be willing to put her through that again?”

“I like it as much as you do, but she needs this.” Remus looks down at the sleeping girl. “If she doesn’t learn to work through the panic, how do you think she’ll manage if we’re not there to help her?”

Grímr snarls, but says no more. He walks to the wall of the tunnel and strikes out, his claws slicing deep through the rock.

She understands how he feels, but Remus is right; Solvei needs a push to get past this. The girl refuses to enter buildings for fuck’s sake. If she doesn’t get over her phobia, she’ll never be able to manage in civilisation. Not to mention how unfair the world can be sometimes. If she continues to push for more strength, there is no doubt in Tetsu’s mind Solvei will face challenges that won’t be so kind as to only leave her with fear.

Thoughts of her father and the near vegetative state he’d returned in after his ultimate battle dig their way into her mind before she can shake them away. She doesn’t want to think about him. Too painful to imagine the imposing weapon-master she’d always idolised be reduced to what he’d become.

Luckily for Solvei, she slept for the subsequent days as they ran through the tunnel. The wide cavern often had cracks in the side, leading to fissures on the surface. Plenty of places for the bugs to crawl their way to the surface. The further they seem to travel, the more dense the population of their targets becomes.

Solvei’s sleep was anything but pleasant. She would toss and turn in calm moments, then lash out in a panic, her flames trying to burn at anything they can grasp. Grímr had taken over Remus in taking care of her. The portian clearly seeing much of his old áinfean relatives in the girl. He was usually far more reserved around people, especially those he hadn’t known for years.

They eventually come across the source for these creatures. The tunnel’s black rock underfoot changes to a smooth grey stone that slopes upward until the tunnel they’d been following pinches off. In the centre of this new stone floor is a hole large enough for Grímr to fit in lengthwise.

Tetsu jumps down first. The ground under her feet made of the same stone as above. She looks around, only to be shocked at how far she can see. A low ceiling cavern extends before her at an upward slope. It is dark, but in the low light Solvei gives off, she can see that the two layers of stone keep an almost perfect three metre separation for as far as she can see. Not just in one direction, but all around her.

Just where in the Grand Champion’s name does this lead?