Chapter Ten

Asha gains her powers and retrieves her weapons.  She finds the powers of fire may be more then what she bargained for...

 

    Asha was embraced with an intense heat as soon as she entered her destined room. Though, for a change, the heat didn't seem to bother her in the least. In fact, it made her feel completely refreshed as she would after a good night's sleep.

    Looking around, she could see a single pathway, just wide enough for a person to walk comfortable, surrounded by this strange liquid, almost a reddish-orange in color. Asha narrowed her eyes curiously as she took a step closer to the edge of the path so to get a better look at this thick liquid.

    She knelt down, noting that just above the liquid, the air looked somehow distorted, as if it moved in waves and the liquid itself seemed to bubble in random sections of the room. Her eyes soon widened in shock and fear as she realized what this strange liquid was. It can't be…She stood, taking a few shorts steps back. "Lava?"

    She looked around the room once more realizing the room seemed to be more of a cavern. What wasn't covered in lava was being supported by the rock pathway which Asha believed to be solid bedrock. She couldn't think of any other form of rock that could withstand such heat from the lava. But why am I able to?    As she continued to study the room, she turned right, facing the door she had just entered from. Only, there was no door to be seen; just a solid bedrock wall, such as the ones surrounding the rest the room. She gasped, taking a step forward; her eyes wide in horror. "What happened to the door?" She shrieked as she placed a shaky hand onto the stone.

     Before long, her fear began to take over as she slammed her hands and feet against the wall, hitting it in whatever way she could. She sucked in a painful breath after punching the wall for the last time. The pain had snapped her back to her senses. "Not good…" she said quietly to herself as she rubbed her soar hand.

    There were deep gashes along the knuckles of her left hand. She couldn't even remember switching from just hitting the wall with the palms of her hands to punching it. "I wonder if I broke it." She tried bending her hand, finding it rather difficult. "I hope not." She lowered her hand to her side; pain throbbed from her knuckles to her fingertips. This has got to be why Jade gets so angry with me.    She took another good look around, feeling her fear build up inside her once again. "Calm down, it'll be alright damn it. You're not going to find a way out of here if you keep freaking out like this." She looked down the pathway, looking into the distance. Huh, what is that? Squinting, she was able to see the end of the path.

     In the center of the room was what looked to be a small isle, but she could not see much more that. Everything else seemed to blend together within the waves due to the extreme heat of the lava. She let out a long breath as she began to walk down the path once more. "I just have to keep going forward. That's all I can-" she stopped short as a bubble of lava burst at the edge of the pathway aside of her, splashing up onto her already injured hand.

    She cried out, holding her hand out before her as she braced herself for an unbearable pain to greet her. However, the pain never came.

    "What's going on?" Asha question herself as she stared down at her lava covered hand.

    She raised her free hand to the lava on her arm, feeling the intense heat as it rose in waves. Cautiously, she brought her hand closer to the lava. She reached out towards it, pulling her hand back slightly at first from fear before placing her hand down onto her arm just above the lava. With her eyes closed tight, she wiped the thick liquid from her skin.

    Asha hesitantly opened her eyes, not wanting to see her charred skin. But as she looked, she soon found the lava wasn't harmful to her at all. In fact, it seemed to act as a healing agent. Her hand, which she had badly battered against the bedrock wall, was now completely healed. It was as if she had never punched the wall to begin with.

    She clenched her fist. Yup, like new. Shaking her head she looked to the lava. "But this can not be real. It's not even hot!" She commented to herself as she wiped her hands on the lower section of her shirt. The shirt instantly began to burn wear the remains of lava came intact; leaving her skin untouched. "It's real?"

    "An interesting discovery, is it not?"

    "Huh?" Asha nearly jumped at the sound of the voice. "Who's there?" She questioned quickly surveying the cavern. There was no one around when she had first came into her destined room, and there certainly was no one there now. "I must be hearing things…" she commented to herself quietly as she scratched the side of her head.

    "You most definitely are not!" The voice boomed sternly.

    Asha bit her bottom lip, wanting to ask the question which had first leapt into her mind. But, she was afraid of what her answer would be. If this voice was a voice belonging to that of an enemy, she didn't know what she would do. The thought of being stuck in a room with no doors with one of those lunatics, alone, didn't make her feel all too safe.

    After a moment of silence between her and this mysterious voice, Asha summoned as much of her courage she could muster and decided to ask her question. "Who are you?"

    She heard what sounded to be a huff of air from the voice's owner. "My name is Ash." The voice bellowed in a low husky tone, making it hard for Asha to tell whether the owner was male of female. "I am the Spirit of Fire."

    "The Spirit of Fire?" Asha echoed.

    "Yes." Ash boomed once again. "I am here to help you retain your full power."

    "How are you going to do that? Where are you now? I can' even see you!"

    "Silence!" Ash demanded quieting Asha at once. "All of your questions will be answered in due time."

    Asha could not bite her tongue any longer as she clenched her teeth in anger. "I just don't understand how you can help me if you won't even show me who you are! Don't yell at me like I'm some unruly kid!"

    Ash remained silent for a moment, making Asha wish she hadn't even thought of snapping the way she had. After a few short seconds, she heard the spirit make what sounded as a person sighing. "I am everywhere." Ash answered huskily. "You see, for being the Spirit of Fire, as the other spirits are of their own element, I have no true form."

    "So you are like a ghost?"

    There was another short pause. "No…not like a ghost. I never lived in order to die."

    "So, you are an entity of some sort."

    "You can say that."

    Asha huffed as she placed a hand to her hip, turning her head to the right. "Whatever." Her gaze fell upon the lava bubbling off in the distance, reminding her of how she was untouched by its intense heat. "Hey, can you tell me why I was healed instead of burnt when the lava splashed me?"

    "It's quite simple actually. Since lava's energy is based upon fire, it can not destroy fire; only feed it. And since you yourself are technically fire now, you can not be harmed by such extreme heat."

    Asha couldn't help but smile. The thought of being invincible to fire made her feel somehow invincible. At least there was one thing she could do now that the others could not. Her thoughts then switched over to how she had received those cuts on her hand in the first place.

    She dropped her hand to her side and looked up towards the bedrock ceiling. "What happened to the door?"

    "That was for your own protection; to stop any hindrances from entering the room after you and stealing the Knowledge of Fire."

    "But that leaves me stuck here!"

    "Well, I suggest that if you wish to leave so badly that you continue to follow that pathway before you. It'll lead you to both the exit, and the Knowledge of Fire."

    She sighed as she looked ahead in the direction of the pathway. "So, what I need to get out of here is just down this path?" She began to walk towards the isle.

    After a few minutes of walking she was at the end of the pathway looking at her destination. In the center of the isle was a rock reaching just to her hips; in its center a red handled sword could be seen stuck inside.

    "Go ahead; take it."

    Asha studied the rock in disbelief. "There is no way I can pull that sword out of that rock." The rock was massive and looked rather sturdy, making her feel quite doubtful of her ability to pull the blade free from its tight encasement.

    "It's yours to take; now take it."

    "Alright already."

    She cautiously approached the rock and reached out for the blade's handle, grasping it tightly. She pulled upward on the sword. To her surprise, she felt the blade ease its way through its rough exterior; the sound of metal scraping against the stone rang through her ears over the sound of the bubble magma.

    Lifting the sword above her head she studied the weapon; the weapon which was now hers to wield. A strange sensation ran throughout her body as she stared transfixed into the silvery blade of her sword. Her gaze moved up to the tip of the blade, noting the tips shape was that of an arrow head with its edges pointing inward toward the blade itself.

    As she turned the blade sideways, she looked down at the hilt. Etched on either side was the symbol of fire. "Sweet." She commented in an approving tone, lowering the sword. Strapped around the top of the rock, was a sheath such a dark red in color, it looked almost black.

    She eagerly unfastened the strap, quickly refastening it around her waist, before slipping the blade into its rightful place within the sheath. Oddly enough, it felt right to her having the sword's hilt beneath her right hand, though she had not once held any sort of weapon in her life.

    "Is this to your liking?' Ash asked simply.

    "Yes, it is. But, how is a simple sword going to help me against a freak like Magmiss? I don't even know how to use one of these…"

    "This isn't a mere sword. This is the Knowledge of Fire."

She looked to the sword. "This is the Knowledge of Fire?" For some reason I was expecting a scroll or something…    "Yes, this sword, as the other elemental weapons, was empowered with the knowledge of their element by the previous Elemental Guardians."

     Asha looked back up to the ceiling, not quite following what the voice meant. "Which means?"

    "Which means the intense training the first set of guardians have had to endure, you will not. Once you touched that sword, you were enlightened with its knowledge, and in turn are now the true owner of the element fire."

    "That's so sweet." She said in excitement as she looked to her hands, eager to try out her new powers.

    "But, as with the other powers, it will take some time for each of you to gain full control."

Asha sighed as she lowered her hands to her sides again. "Of course, there is always some sort of catch with everything."

    "You should be especially careful, Asha."

    "Why?"

    "You are the bearer of fire. Controlled, that power is destructive. Without control, who knows what may happen."

    Asha swallowed, she had never thought of that. What if she would loose control around the others? They could get hurt! Even though they may have their own powers, what if they can not contain hers?

    "The other guardians can handle themselves." Asha jumped at Ash's voice. It seemed as if it had read her worried thoughts. "Each element can keep the other in check."

    "But-"

    "Things will work out."

    Asha nodded, a slight smile coming over her features. The spirit, though rude with its way of speech, had reassured her greatly. She then looked around the isle. "So how do I get out of here anyway? You said I'd get out of here once I found the weapon.

    "Impatient little scamp, aren't you?"

    Asha rolled her eyes. "Look who's talking. Just tell me how to get out of here."

    "Close your eyes."

    "What?"

    "Just do it." Ash ordered.

    Asha did as she was told. She could feel her skin begin to tingle slightly as her body was surrounded by a red light. In a matter of seconds, she disappeared from the room, the thought of her new, still uncontrolled, powers still flooding her mind.