Swim in the Fire

While I supply Anthropic blood to my bullets, we travel on the back of a giant flying stingray above the sea. It's glowing gold and so noticeable in the middle of this dark ocean. Zuriel summoned it and he's there sitting on the head of the stingray, singing a song by himself.

Helena is flying around using her powers to kill boredom. I'm worried about her. What if a sudden gust of wind knocks her off the stingray? I know she can fly back and will be able to see this glowing stingray, but I don't know what to expect as we're in uncharted territory.

"Careful, Helena," I tell her. "You could get left behind." She just rolls her eyes at me and I couldn't help but feel offended. "Helena?" I ask her again to fix her attitude.

"I know," she grumbles away from me.

I just let her off as I wonder why she's acting like this towards me all of a sudden. Nisha saw that but acts like nothing ever happened as she cleans her swords. I continue with what I'm doing and scooch closer to her.

"What's with her, recently?" I ask. "Did I do something wrong that I wasn't aware of?"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong, my love."

"Then what?"

"It's natural for kids to become irritable sometimes. You'll get used to it. Just be more patient but don't let her do it too far."

"If you say so."

I kiss her head as I stand up. I'm done with what I'm doing. There is nothing to see around us but pitch-black darkness. How does Zuriel even navigate in this? I was only able to navigate by looking at the glowing craters of the volcanoes.

Helena is talking to him a lot. It's. . . making me uncomfortable for some reason. Am I jealous? I'm not and why would I be? I'm only wondering what they're talking about. I just hope that he's not teaching her "inappropriate" stuff. I'm gonna kill him if I find out.

Ugh, they're laughing. This guy doesn't choose who to flirt around with. She's just a kid!

No, wait. . . I'm overreacting. Yup, I gotta be honest with myself. They're just chatting as uncle and niece. Yeah, that's all there is.

Hundreds of hours later, we begin to approach a wall of igneous slope that stretches from the sea and then gets steeper on its way to the top. Lava waterfalls and rivers run endlessly along it. To the distant left, I can't see any way around it as well as to the right. How are we gonna get past this?

"What do we do?" I ask Zuriel as I stand behind him.

He stands up and turns toward us. "This is it," he grins.

"The what?"

"The way to the Surface."

"Excuse me if I don't get it."

"I understand. I had the same reaction when I first found out about this." He summons a flask from his inventory. The content looks like swirling hot molten glass. "Everyone, gather around me." Helena is quick to take his side.

"What is that?" Nisha asks about the flask.

"It's the 'Potion of the Unburnable' and 'Potion of Everlungs' in one. As the name tells ya, this will make us immune to fire for 24 hours—that's enough time for us to get to the surface, and it will also allow us to hold our breath."

Confused, I try to clear up my confusion. "Wait, wait, wait. . . how exactly are we going to go up there?"

"By swimming in the magma, of course!"

Nisha and I are surprised at how ridiculous this idea is.

"Are you serious about this?" I ask, getting goosebumps as I'm worried about my family.

"He is," says Helena. "why won't you trust him?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't you trust me, Daddy?" this bastard repeats with a squeaky voice.

"Ugh, just get on with it!" I growl.

So annoying. . .

"Alright," he says in a straight voice. "listen to me and I can only say this before we enter this supervolcano. Each of us will only have 24 hours to get out of the volcano. Get past that time limit, and it's bye-bye Shannia. So, I need you guys to keep up with me. Of course, we won't be able to see each other so I will constantly release magic so you'll sense where I am. I will not wait or pull any of you as I will also be busy propelling myself in the thick magma. If I stop even for just a while, I will die along with you."

That scares me. I'm not worried about myself but I'm worried about Nisha and Helena. What if one of them gets left behind and there is nothing I could do? If I leave one of them behind, what kind of man and father will I become? And if I don't, I will gain nothing but good conscience.

*Gulp*

Nisha pats my back. "It's gonna be fine," she says. I just nod and smile. Damn, I showed weakness in front of her.

Zuriel continues, "Don't be confused when we'll enter through a wide-enough vent going downward. It is because we first need to get to the magma chamber where we can find the main vent—which is the surest way to the surface. Of course, some vents will lead you to the surface. However, the chance of finding the right ones is slim because some of them might lead you back to the Underworld and some of them are too small for you to fit and you could get trapped. So, the main vent is the easier and safest way to go. We just have to swim upwards when we get to the center of the magma chamber." He sighs and purposely gives us time to digest all of that. "To make it simple, follow me down the vent, into the magma chamber, and up through the main vent. Got it?" We all nod as that was much clearer. "Good. And Miss Nisha, have you learned the skill I told you?"

"Yes, I have," she answers. "'Veil From the Eyes of God'—is that right?"

"That's right. Be ready to use it once you get to the surface or the sun might burn you."

"Got it."

He looks at us one by one. "Have I forgotten something?" A couple of seconds later, he says, "Alright, here we go."

The stingray takes us closer to one of the erupting vents of the volcano. Instantly, I'm covered in sweat. Is it because of this heat or just my fear?

As Zuriel raises the flask, I say to Helena, "Don't let go of my hand, sweetie." as I grab her hand.

"No," she refuses, pulling it from me with a frown as she looks to the side.

"It'll slow both of you down," Zuriel reasons. "You need every limb you've got."

I say no more because I know that Zuriel is right. What's with her lately? I'm just showing her how much I care for her. Maybe this is what she hates. Am I being overprotective? Because I don't see myself acting that way. I'm looking out for her as always.

I'm startled as the flask shatters on the ground between us four. Its contents swirl upwards and around us. Instantly, I can't feel any heat.

"Follow me now!" Zuriel rallies us as he jumps off of the stingray.

Helena and Nisha follow. I jump last, almost hesitating. My chest is beating so fast. The three of them have already dived into the boiling hot lava. What has happened to them? Did they survive? Am I gonna melt down to my bones?

Shit, stop worrying!

*Shoom*

I'm in the boiling lava now, holding my breath, and can't tell the difference even if I close or open my eyes because all I see is bright yellow. The magma is loud in my ears. I feel the current moving up to the surface but I sense Zuriel's aura directly below me. It's getting fainter every second. It's because he's already swimming down! I gotta catch up.

I hope my girls are okay. Oh, they're letting out their auras too. They're inches below me! Thank goodness! So, I let them know I'm here too. Together, we swim further down in this boiling hot vent.

It's very hard to keep up with Zuriel. His pace seems to be hurrying but he said to keep up with him. This pace must be just right, giving us time to get out before our resistance expires. It's not worrying me for now because we've only been here for a couple of minutes. But the magma is so viscous and the current is against us that it's so hard to move! Nisha is doing fine because of her unnatural strength, Helena and Zuriel are using some kind of propelling magic, while I'm the only one who is struggling.

I gotta keep up.

For hours, we keep diving deeper into the volcano. And that's when we start to swim horizontally. I can feel it because I can tell by the gravity. Then the magma starts to feel less viscous and it's brighter. My eyes! Argh! It's too bright even though I'm closing them. And the pressure is crushing! My stomach is getting pushed inwards. We must be in the magma chamber now.

Wait a minute, why is Zuriel flickering his aura? He's turning it on and off rapidly. What's going on with him? Now, it's three of them. Why are they—

WOAH!!!

Sudden turbulence spins me around! Argh! It's hard to regain control! Come on! Stop! It's no use! It won't stop. Or so I thought. It just suddenly stops.

Thank goodness.

Wait. . . where are they?

I swim forward and. . . what is this against my palm? It's solid but not made out of rock. I can sense an aura! Damn, I thought I lost them. I gotta—

*Shiver*

This aura. . . it does not belong to the three of them. It's an aura of some kind of animal. An animal? That's ridiculous.

No creature can survive in this place unless. . .

I'm in Shannia.