Chapter II: Flames of Youth

The terrain was rough and the ever expanding forest made it difficult to navigate without harming the vegetation. Despite this Mash was calm and weaved her way through quite easily, if anyone were to see this they would be mesmerized at the mech suit dancing its way across the forest. Mash is an expert pilot and at the young age of eighteen can pretty much "drive" any sort of vehicle, a mech suit was no exception, she was in her element. Anytime she was behind the "wheel" she was the happiest. Her dream had always been to travel the world, the when, where and how didn't matter as long as she was driving and in control but because of the never ending war her dream will remain nothing but a dream.

A beeping sound put her out of her trance. "Energy reading --- thirty meters North" This was her AI companion, most soldiers have at least one in tow and it was a necessity for pilots as well if they needed to put their vehicles on auto.

"Set guns to auto and scan for lifeforms, Protocol Alpha."

"Roger. Scanning --- No threats detected. Only visible life from plants."

Mash furrowed her brows, there was an energy reading and they were in the forest but no life was detected, this worried her because their scans were thorough and would even detect small animals.

She made her way to a small clearing where she found herself a few feet away from a cave and from this distance she could tell something was wrong. There were scorch marks all over the entrance and most of the plants nearby were burned to ash.

"Blub, cover me, I'm going to take a closer look." She ordered as the hatch opened up and she jumped down from the mech. Blub was the name she gave the AI, naming was not her strong suit but the AI acknowledged her command and went into defensive mode. At the same time she jumped from the cockpit the mechs arms detached itself from the body and came to her sides as soon as her feet touched the ground. The two arms hovered beside her and the mech now had machine guns on both places were the arms once were.

She carefully walked towards the cave opening, she could feel heat emanating from the cave which meant the burns were fresh. She put her arms up in a defensive stance and the two mech arms beside her followed her movements. As she inched closer towards it the heat became more intense and the moment she stepped on the scorched earth, a sudden burst of flames came at her from the cave.

She placed her arms in front of her and took a fetal position as she jumped back, using the force from the flames to push her while the mech arms guarded her.

"Blub!"

"Warning! Fire Elemental ahead!"

"I can see that!" Mash yelled as she began deconstructing one of the arms and turning it into a rifle that was as big as her. "Cryo bullets!"

"...It seems Godric took all the cryogenic materials."

"..."

"...May I interest you in some incendiary bullets?"

"You little sh--"

She was cut off as another burst of flames flew towards her, this time only one arm could shield her and it wasn't enough, she could the heat on her skin and felt the pain in her lungs. She was thrown backwards and she fell in front of the mech, she quickly deconstructed it and made a circular barrier around her from the parts. Immediately after, flames began to attack them again but thankfully it could not penetrate the barrier.

"Stupid Godric." She said under her breath. Deconstructing and reconstructing took a lot of energy from her and given the size of her creations it took an even bigger toll. "Damn it. How the hell did a fire elemental get here?"

As she tried to think of a way to get out of her predicament the flames suddenly stopped.

She stood in silence for a moment, thinking of possibilities on what was happening outside. She was drawing a blank.

She clicked her tongue and made a small glass window on the front of the barrier.

Now she could clearly see what she was up against.

It was a TYPE-II Flame Elemental, humanoid body made of flames and coal, there are three types of Elementals: TYPE-I (Small and agile usually looks like an animal, made completely from a specific element, not very powerful, treated as scouts), TYPE-II (Humanoid, made from multiple elements, very powerful), TYPE-III (Gigantic but slow, made from one element type and extremely powerful, avoid at all costs). This particular TYPE-II was made of flames and was using coal to strengthen itself further. Usually soldiers handled elementals quite easily as they have specific weaknesses that can be exploited but in Mash's case since she doesn't have the materials needed she had to find another way.

"Why isn't it doing anything?"

"Maybe it's tired?"

"Oh blub, elementals never get tired."

"Oh right, that was me. I'm tired"

"AI don't get tired."

"Shows how much you know, this guy fried my circuits, I don't see you fixing it."

"When did you become such a drama queen?"

"Well, we usually take up the personality of our companion. So, there..."

Mash' eyes twitched a little. "Shut up and let me think."

The elemental was just standing there, it wasn't even looking at them, it was staring to its right but there was nothing but trees as far as she could tell.

"I have an idea." Mash said with a smile.

"Here we go again." Blub sighed as only an AI could.

The barrier began to open from the middle and Mash came out confidently, a sword and a large shield in hand. The shield was equipped with correctional boosters on the sides helping Mash carry it despite her small build.

"Intelligence is the most powerful weapon." Mash whispered as she began to charge towards the elemental. Mash jumped high towards it, using the boosters on her feet and shield to propel her higher and faster. Suddenly it seemed to snap back to its senses and as soon as it saw Mash, the flames began to burst again, with more power than before. This time it intended to incinerate.