Kindling, page 24
part #6 of Painting the Mists Series
Yu Wen led the way up the rocky slope. It was covered in sharp obsidian fragments that cut at their robes as they traveled. Occasionally they spotted streams of lava that split and combined as they made their way to the bottom. The heat intensified as they approached the distant peak.
Soon they arrived at the gray cloud that filled the air with a poisonous miasma. Cha Ming summoned a simple formation that isolated them from the heavy smoke as they pushed through the dense cloud. Skeletons littered the mountain as they climbed, likely victims of mysterious rocky creatures that waited in ambush for unsuspecting prey. A day passed as they took their time carefully scaling the treacherous peak.
Finally, they pierced through the smoke, revealing a ten-mile-wide lake of lava. The peak seemed like it had been sheared off by a blade to make room for the large pool and a small jade altar at the center. A tiny dirt road connected the fragile outer walls to the central island.
“Let’s go,” Yu Wen said, hopping onto the dirt road.
Seeing Yu Wen’s fearless demeanor, Cha Ming gulped and followed her. The lava bubbled and hissed as they walked past it. Further out, red-scaled fish jumped in and out of the volcano. Birds of flame dove down to catch them with mixed success, and Cha Ming watched them in wonder.
It took them an hour to arrive at the jade altar. Cha Ming was surprised to see that instead of hosting a statue, the altar was actually a throne. As soon as they set foot onto the small island in the center, a loud hiss filled the air. A large serpent of lava emerged from the volcano and coiled onto the giant chair.
“Greetings, honored guestssss,” the serpent said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“We’ve come for the flame source,” Yu Wen announced.
“That issss… difficult,” the serpent said. “To obtain these resources, you would need special permission.”
Yu Wen summoned a jade slip from her robes. While it didn’t look any different than his gathering quota, it emanated an inviolable aura.
“Where did you obtain this royal gathering quota?” the serpent asked when he saw the slip. “Who are you?”
“You don’t need to concern yourself with that,” Yu Wen said. “You just need to obey and deliver the resources to me. While you’re at it, fetch me the Flame Essence Core and Flame Source Marrow.”
Cha Ming’s heart beat a little faster when he heard her mention this vital body-cultivating component.
“You’re pushing me too far,” the serpent said in an aggrieved tone. “The marrow and the core are one thing, but the source creates all. If you take it away, the volcano will lose its primary source of energy!”
“But I have a royal gathering quota,” Yu Wen pointed out.
The serpent’s eyes narrowed. “Fine. You have my permission, but you need to gather it yourself. Even I am unsure of its location within this volcano.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Yu Wen said. “The lava would burn us to death before we even made it a hundred feet deep.”
The serpent flicked its tail. Two black stone medallions appeared before Cha Ming and Yu Wen. Their obsidian surfaces felt cool to the touch, and the mysterious runes engraved on them radiated transcendent might.
“These medallions will allow you to swim within the lava unharmed for up to one year,” the serpent said. “If you still can’t find what you need by then, it’s not too late to turn back.” Then the snake hissed and plunged into the lake of lava.
“I don’t think that snake will make it easy for us,” Cha Ming said as his body absorbed the medallion and incorporated it within his body.
“It knows it’s difficult,” Yu Wen said grumpily. “But we have to try. You can’t even imagine what’s happening on Jade Moon Planet right now. If we don’t get the Flame Essence Source, every person who crossed the Bridge of Stars will die on this planet.” She looked at the lake of lava fearfully and glanced at the talisman in her hands.
Rolling his eyes, Cha Ming plunged his own hand into the lava like he would a swimming pool. He immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“Why would you do that? Pull it out!” Yu Wen yelled as she grabbed his robes and threw him to the ground.
Cha Ming burst out laughing as the lava dripped off his hand and onto the island. “Don’t worry, he didn’t lie to us,” he said.
“Come here, funny man,” Yu Wen said, walking up to him with a grin on her face.
Cha Ming looked around in a panic, but before he could escape, Yu Wen shackled him with silver strings and flung him into the lava. He resurfaced a few seconds later as though treading water.
“I suppose I deserved that,” he said.
Yu Wen sniffed and retreated behind the altar to change.
The world of lava was as beautiful as it was serene. The stream of molten rock parted as Cha Ming paddled his feet, carefully manipulating his weight to maintain neutral buoyancy. As he swam, he made sure to extend his resplendent force into the lava. Though he couldn’t see anything, strictly speaking, the wondrous image being transmitted into his mind more than made up for it.
The first things he noticed were the sounds. Every wave that struck him, every swirl he collided with, caused a slight tremor in his vast surroundings. As an experiment, he threw an obsidian stone toward the nearby wall. It let out a loud clink that seemed to come from all directions as the dense liquid rapidly propagated the sound waves. Cha Ming continued swimming, and as he did, he heard an occasional pop as noxious fumes traveled between the viscous layers of molten rock.
Do you see anything on your end? Cha Ming asked Yu Wen.
Nothing, Yu Wen said. I just see a bare, desolate wasteland.
Maybe we haven’t traveled far enough, Cha Ming sent back. As per their original agreement, they dove even further into the giant pool. The pressure increased as they traveled, forcing them to adjust their qi shields to resist it. They encountered little difficulty as they plunged deeper into the volcano.
Ten feet became one hundred feet, and one hundred feet became a thousand. Strange rocks appeared every so often, and so too did curious creatures dwelling in the lava. Before long, they entered a completely alien world. It wasn’t devoid of life like the surface. Rather, it was teeming with it. Magnificent red corals grew on the volcano’s rocky walls. They provided food to the many demonic fish that made their home in their sharp, jagged structures. In return, the demonic fish provided fertilizer. Tiny piles of black excrement littered the corals, which greedily absorbed the processed nutrients.
In the distance, a rainbow-colored fish preyed upon smaller silver fish. Their remnant flesh and blood fell near the corals, but before their nutrients could be absorbed by them, they were sucked up by a purple-gold starfish. It extracted the essence before discarding desiccated remnants, which crumbled onto the ground and joined the black sand that covered it. There, tiny white fish used feelers to sift through it in search of nutrients. Nothing was wasted in the volcanic wonderland.
Hours passed as they journeyed deeper and deeper, and a black fissure soon appeared in the distance. It grew swiftly as he approached, and before long, he was floating beside a 100-meter-wide gash. He held out his hand, which was entrained toward the fissure by a swift downcurrent.
I found something interesting, Cha Ming sent to Yu Wen. He waited for a half hour before a lithe figure in a two-piece swimsuit swam up beside him. She looked at the chasm grimly.
Do you think we’ll be all right if we go down? Cha Ming asked. Can we come back up? Unfortunately, he was far too lacking in many areas of knowledge.
It shouldn’t be a problem, Yu Wen sent back. But it’ll be a long journey. It could take us weeks to return to the surface.
I don’t think we’ll find what we’re looking for up here, Cha Ming pointed out.
Noted, Yu Wen sent. She sent out her space-time camera and posed before snapping a picture of both of them. Then Yu Wen grabbed his forearm and pulled him toward the downcurrent. He grasped her other arm, and they swiftly sank to the depths of the volcano in tandem.
Jagged obsidian corals, schools of fish, and other strange life-forms quickly passed them by. The lava became increasingly bright as they approached a small red circle in the distance. It grew larger and larger, brighter and brighter, until finally they entered a vast red sea with no bottom in sight.
It looks like we’ll have to split up and search, Yu Wen said. But it’ll be difficult to communicate.
Let’s find out how deep the bottom is first, Cha Ming suggested. Once we know that, we can make better plans.
Agreed, Yu Wen said. But be careful as you dive. I sense frightening creatures here.
Cha Ming nodded solemnly as they went separate ways, leaving a spiritual mark at their entry point before diving diagonally toward their perceived bottom.
Cha Ming swam for hours. Not a single wave could be felt or heard in his immediate surroundings, indicating that they were very far from any solid impingements. Cha Ming floated downward in the lonely sea of red. One day. Two days. Three days. A week passed before he finally spotted an obstacle in the distance.
Excited, he quickly swam toward it. A jagged crystal outline slowly appeared in his mind’s eye. He approached it slowly, and soon a three-hundred-foot-long object appeared wedged in gritty obsidian sand. It was composed entirely of what seemed like low-grade spirit stone.
Curious, he swam around it while using his resplendent force to fully map out the object. His complexion sank when he finally realized what it was—a skeleton. It was the skeleton of a large lava demon that had previously inhabited the cavern. And judging by the teeth marks and fractures on its bones, it wasn’t at the top of the food chain.
I’ve found the bottom, but I also found a big skeleton, Cha Ming sent to Yu Wen.
No response.
Let’s head back and regroup. I don’t think it’s safe to explore alone.
No response.
Cha Ming cursed as he began swimming back toward his spirit mark. To his surprise, a warm current buffeted his body and eased his ascent.
One day, two days, three days. Six days passed without seeing the shadow of another creature. He soon saw the familiar twinkle of his spirit mark in the distance. Excited, he increased his speed. But to his surprise, a large shadow suddenly moved between him and the mark. It was a large demon with sharp teeth, and it was swimming toward him at a leisurely pace. Cha Ming swiftly retracted his resplendent force. The world went black as he floated in the dark lava and waited for the giant fish to pass.
Ten breaths, twenty breaths, thirty breaths… after thirty breaths, he felt a hot rush beside him. It flung him backward two hundred feet as the giant demon brushed him lightly. Fortunately, it hadn’t noticed him. After waiting for a few seconds, he began reaching out with his resplendent force, only to pull it back once more.
Woosh. Woosh. Woosh.
One beast after another brushed against him. Each brush depleted a large amount of his qi, but he didn’t dare fight back. He endured as his qi depleted to a quarter of his total capacity. Finally, when it seemed like he couldn’t hold out much longer, the fish stopped as quickly as they’d come.
Cha Ming looked around and saw a retreating school of giant demonic sharks. After quickly looking around for Yu Wen, he followed their plan and caught an upcurrent back to the surface. His surroundings darkened before lighting up again as he reached the surface near the jade altar.
Yu Wen’s face lit up as he broke through the surface. “What took you so long?” she asked. “I thought something had happened to you.”
“It was a close call,” Cha Ming said, shaking the lava from his skin and donning blue robes. “I was almost caught by some lava demons.” They walked past the altar, where the lava serpent was lounging.
“No luck?” the lava serpent taunted. “There’s no need to stress yourself out so much. If you leave now, I’ll give you an obsidian orchid for your trouble. This is a precious treasure that only grows every hundred millennia. It’s worth more than a transcendent plane.”
“While your offer is tempting, the fire source is irreplaceable,” Yu Wen said, causing the serpent to huff in disappointment before heading back into the volcano’s depths.
“We should stick together next time we head down,” Cha Ming said. “It’ll be much safer that way.”
They sat down by altar and recovered their qi, and after finishing, Cha Ming pulled out a pad of paper he’d been mulling over.
… douses the hearts of the needy;
Man is left…
Kindling the flames …
Never questioning …
He rubbed his forehead as he searched for words. Thus far, he hadn’t managed to gain inspiration past a simple structure consistent with his previous runic poetry. Dousing and kindling—he knew the basis of fire he was aiming for. But putting these into words and assigning emotions was easier said than done.
Ironically, Zhou Li wasn’t wrong, Cha Ming thought as he looked at the incomplete poem. My life is too lukewarm. When have I really felt strongly about anything? I haven’t loved—at least, not in the romantic sense.
His eyes flickered to Yu Wen, who was now looking through pictures on her camera. She looked up and smiled. Cha Ming put away his pad of paper and sat down beside her as she browsed pictures of shoals, corals, fish, and serpents.
“Is that what I think it is?” Cha Ming asked, edging closer.
“It is,” Yu Wen said proudly, zooming in. She magnified the picture and revealed a fiery decapus, which had perched itself over a school of fish in the shoal. Although it was only a picture, Cha Ming could sense the savageness in its eyes.
“I saw what looked like a school of giant sharks,” Cha Ming said.
“Did you?” Yu Wen said. “Show me.”
Cha Ming smiled and painted it with the Clear Sky Brush. A large purple shark with bright-red teeth appeared and swam toward them. Dozens appeared behind it and buffeted them with waves of orange-red lava. “They swam right beside me, and I had to hide using my resplendent force. I think I’d be a goner if I hadn’t acted so quickly.”
“You have to be careful,” Yu Wen said. She flicked to the next picture. “This was my near miss,” she said, revealing a picture of a large volcanic turtle. Its shell was made of obsidian covered in golden runes while its skin was deep purple. Yu Wen’s small figure was thousands of times smaller in comparison. Her space-time camera showed a progression of images as she was pushed away by the stream of lava, tumbling uncontrolled toward the unknown.
They laughed as they shared stories, pictures, and paintings. Hours passed by in a flash. “Cha Ming?” Yu Wen said, looking up at him.
“Yes?” Cha Ming said, looking into her eyes.
Yu Wen looked away shyly, causing him to chuckle inwardly. “Come a little closer,” she said. “I’m cold. It’s not as warm up here as down in the lava.”
“Sure,” he said, wrapping his arm around her. They continued looking at pictures throughout the night. But Cha Ming remembered none of that. He only remembered his rapid heartbeat, her gentle breathing, and the entrancing smell of her hair.
Chapter 23: Uphill Battle
“Oh God,” Lei Jiang said as they struggled up the steep slope of the mountain. “Leave. Go on without me. I can’t take it anymore.” He collapsed into a small tubby pile, causing Huxian and Silverwing to slow their ascent. They, too, were covered in a thick sheen of sweat, but it couldn’t compare to the puddle dripping beneath the obese mouse, Lei Jiang.
“Tell my family that I love them,” Lei Jiang continued.
Huxian rolled his eyes and circled around him before using his muzzle to roll the fat mouse up the steep incline.
“Tell my wives that I’m proud to have fathered so many children with them. Tell my twelve sisters that you’ll take care of them, and make sure to find husbands for each of them.”
“If you don’t shut your trap, I’ll have Silverwing throw you off the cliff,” Huxian said, instantly silencing Lei Jiang. “Besides, we’re here.”
The fat purple mouse rolled to a gentle stop atop a large flat peak. Sheer cliffs surrounded them on all sides save the narrow pathway they used to ascend. Atop the mountain sat a lazy-looking hedgehog. Its salmonella-laced spikes, though vicious, seemed like tiny pinpricks when compared to its massive claws and teeth. The hedgehogs’ aura was a mixture of purple and ochre, and its eyes were black.
“Why have you come to my lair, little fox?” the hedgehog said. “Can’t you see that we’re busy and can’t be bothered to hunt down small fries like you?”
“But we like picking fights with other demons,” Huxian said with a smile. A jade-and-violet aura swirled around him as he and his three companions revealed their Eyes of Pure Jade and Demon-Subduing Eyes. A thick cloud of devil-sealing and demon-subduing energy covered the mountaintop, causing the hedgehog’s expression to grow somber. Hundreds of tiny hedgehogs poked out of the ground and joined their leader in glaring at Huxian.
“You Bagua foxes don’t know how to leave well enough alone,” the hedgehog said in a deep voice. “Although your father isn’t the greatest troublemaker I’ve ever met, he’s definitely in my top ten.”
“Then I’m proud to be living up to the family tradition,” Huxian said, baring his teeth. An aura of white purification and shadowy swallowing surrounded him. The Friendship Circle appeared around the three demons, allowing them to better redistribute their strength.
“Interesting,” the black-eyed hedgehog said. Energy from the surrounding mountain oozed into him, causing him to double in size and sharpening his array of spikes. A nasty black coating appeared on each one.
“Silverwing, suppress the small fries,” Huxian said calmly as the hedgehog transformed.
“Roger,” Silverwing said. He beat his wings, launching himself several hundred feet into the air. Then he glowed with an azure light, projecting a runic array that spread a full mile wide. Gigantic gusts of wind began to move chaotically, throwing many of the smaller hedgehogs off the mountain. The rest responded by using their sharp claws to dig into the mountain’s surface.
