Inner Sanctum

I walk for a long while. In the darkness. Not sure what to expect. Until…. A red glow is in front radiating through an opening. A loud sound is reverberating all around too.

*Clang Clang*

Why couldn't I hear it before? Ah, perhaps a sound barrier. Doesn't matter, let's see what… Oh my fucking god!

Wow! This is unbelievable. In front of my eyes a scene worthy of legends. Lava flowing everywhere in a gigantic cavern. This is an enormous lava lake! All except a few stone pathways leading to a small island.

On the said island is the old dwarf. Hammering a piece of metal on an anvil. Next to him a small pond of water. Wait…water? How is there water in such a place?!

This should be the inside of the volcano. The weird thing is it doesn't seem to be evaporating. At all. Even with the blistering heat. This is simply not logical.

He seems concentrated on his task. Should I holler at him or no? I don't want to distract him… But I also don't want to remain stuck in this place. The sooner I can get out the better I will feel.

I think I can somehow make it over there. Just gotta be careful not to fall in the lava. It would mean instant death for sure.

Just the atmosphere itself is enough to scare me. I keep progressing steadily. It is weird but the situation is making this simple exercise challenging.

For example, try to walk in a straight line. In a normal situation, it would be easy as pie. Add something extremely dangerous on the side and it changes everything. The stress making it way harder. That's my situation now.

Perfect I just need to …

*Splash*

What the hell is that?! Something emerges from the lava suddenly. I lose balance and almost fall off, but at the last second, I recover. Next to me is now the same creature I saw earlier.

It is looking at me with curiosity, cheerfully swimming. It seems to be wondering what game I am playing. Hell, it scared me! This is bad! Could you imagine dying from being spooked?

I can easily. Accompanied by whatever that thing is, I reach the dwarf. It seems he hasn't noticed me yet. He is forging some kind of sword. Hammering it over and over again.

The odd thing is that besides the anvil there is nothing here. Oh and the pond. But there is no forge or any other tools.

[Hey there, a good day isn't it?]

No answer whatsoever.

[So, the old ghost sent me here to get a weapon.]

Guess I'll wait. I slowly approach the water. This looks refreshing. But I've learned my lesson. I slowly touch the surface and …it's cool! Wow.

This may not be logical but who cares. I slide myself in. The sensation is the ultimate best. Finally, a respite from the smoldering heat. I can feel myself coming alive once more. I get the feeling that my regeneration abilities are back to normal.

If I had to describe this place it would be the exact opposite of a hot spring. So very refreshing. It makes me forget all my sorrow and weariness. This is part of human happiness. The pleasure felt when satisfying a basic need.

Is it weird that it reassures me? After spending some time as a soul, After getting an entirely new body, I was starting to wonder if I was still human. But I guess no matter the form as long as I remain myself everything will be fine.

Honestly, there is a whole debate on what exactly makes us human. Is it our biological characteristic as a species? Is it our capacity to use to design and use tools? Is it our capacity to have a more distinct sense of self? Perhaps even our ability to remember the past and project the future?

There are many theories. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. No matter how you view it all of these are accurate. I say not to worry about it and to have fun haha. After all, we only live once, well twice in my case.

In this manner, I'm just soaking. The constant hammering creating some nice background melody. A nice and constant rhythm. That is a requirement to be a great white noise. Anyway, I feel great.

After all these unfounded fears to be able to just chill. I find myself almost drifting into sleep. All until finally, the hammering stops. I lazily open my eyes to see the dwarf carefully pick up the heated piece of metal with tongs. Then he turns toward me.

"This is nice, now I just need to quench this and …"

He seems surprised to see me. I wave at him.

[Yo!]

"What the hell! Why are you here?!"

He screams, then he moves backward at high speed. He loses his footing and starts rolling. Until he ….

*splash*

What the fuck! What the actual fuck!? He was so surprised he fell into the lava pool!

This just turned into a horror story! Is this considered manslaughter? Dwarfslaughter? It truly wasn't my goal! I'm just here taking a bath!

How did this even happen?! I look toward the calm surface of the liquid. No sign of the dwarf at all. The fiery creature seems to be interesting in what is happening.

[Can you save him?! Hurry and …]

Who am I kidding it's already too late. He is gone. RIP dwarf. One I never got to truly meet. He lived a life of forging from what I know.

He died doing what he loved the most. I guess there could be worse ways to go. I close my eyes and do a silent prayer for him. May he peacefully pass on. Otherwise, he would probably haunt me.

Then I would have two ghosts to deal with. But seriously what am I supposed to tell the other guardians?

Also, how do I get out of here?